


Why Won't You Listen?

by GinnyRose



Series: Zuko Omegaverse [4]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alpha Sokka, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Canon-Typical Violence, Cultural Differences, Episode: s03e14-15 The Boiling Rock, Fighting, Fighting and making up, Gen, Implied Ty Lee/Mai, Mention of Betrothals, Mentions of Rape Culture, Misunderstandings, Mixed POV, No Sexual Content, Omega Zuko, POV Sokka, POV Zuko, Pre-Relationship, Protective Sokka (Avatar), Sexism, Slight Hurt/Comfort, Sokka Is an Idiot But He's Trying, Zuko Doesn't Have Time for This, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, Zuko says Omega Rights, kind of, mentions of Arranged Marriage, past Mai/zuko, slight angst, sokka has issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:26:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 63,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25855087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GinnyRose/pseuds/GinnyRose
Summary: Sokka needs to rescue his father from an undoubtedly horrible fate at the Boiling Rock and he needs to do it alone to prove himself a capable alpha and restore his honor. If only he could get a certain stupidly infuriating jerkbending omega who doesn't know what self-preservation means let him go alone.Or: Sokka's desire to be a good son and rescue his father battles with his desire to keep Zuko safe and out of harm's way. Zuko just wants Sokka to stop treating him weird and maybe bust a few guards' heads for stress relief.
Relationships: Hakoda & Sokka (Avatar), Hakoda & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka & Suki, Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Suki, Zuko & Suki
Series: Zuko Omegaverse [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1849210
Comments: 183
Kudos: 1369





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Quick Note: This closely follows the beginning of the Boiling Rock episodes, so a portion of the dialogue comes from the show, not me.

Sokka crept towards Appa as silently as possible, clutching his small bag of supplies tightly as he carefully tiptoed around everyone. He was certain he had waited until everyone was deep asleep on the temple floor but one could never be too cautious around his friends. It would be just his luck to have Toph sense his movements and wake up thinking they were under attack. The last thing he needed to do was fail his father before he’d even left the temple. Or have any of his friends decide to try and tag along with him on what was most likely going to be a suicide mission. They wouldn’t understand why he needed to do this alone, but he did. The invasion had been his idea and while it was impossible to save everyone who had given themselves up that day, the very least he could do was try and save his father. And ensure that, even if Sokka himself didn’t make it back out, they would at least have an experienced warrior to help them strategize for Sozin’s Comet.

This was Sokka’s duty and nothing was going to stop him from carrying it out, least of all the concerns of his family. He had been careful not to seem overly distracted as he went about preparing everything and he didn’t think he had tipped anyone off to what he was planning to do. The biggest risk had been asking Zuko what he knew about prisons in the Fire Nation and the other boy had seemed rather suspicious but Sokka thought he had done a well enough job convincing him that he was merely curious and he had made sure Zuko had disappeared into his room for the night before going on with any of his planning. At the very least, he didn’t think the other boy would suspect him of doing anything _tonight_.

Sokka held out one hand in a shushing gesture towards Appa as he carefully began climbing up to the saddle. Aang had been more aware of the beloved sky bison ever since they’d been reunited in Ba Sing Se and the _absolute_ last thing he needed was a questioning grunt from Appa rousing the Avatar straight into protective mode. But Appa was used to teenagers and children scrambling up and down his entire body as they pleased and he hardly stirred as Sokka began his ascent.

Sokka knew he was close to his goal as he began pulling himself up onto the saddle – even if he woke any of his friends up, it would be almost impossible for them to stop him once he was fully on Appa. And only Aang would be able to reach him once they were in the air.

So close to his goal, Sokka allowed himself to relax. Which was the exact moment Zuko decided to strike.

“Not up to anything, huh?” the other boy said almost casually from his spot in the corner of Appa’s saddle. Sokka couldn’t help but let out an undignified scream as he fell back off of Appa in surprise. Stunned, he lay on the hard stone for a full moment before remembering himself and scrambling back up to begin shoving all the supplies that had fallen from his pack as Zuko jumped lightly from Appa’s saddle onto the ground next to him, a rather unimpressed frown on his face.

“Fine, you caught me,” Sokka said, trying very hard not to concentrate on how much Zuko’s expression reminded him of Gran Gran’s best I-know-what-you-are-up-to-Sokka,-and-I-will-ground-you-if-you-so-much-as-touch-that-spear-young-man glare as he finished stuffing all his supplies back into his bag. Perhaps it was an omega thing – or perhaps Sokka was more used to them coming from the omegas in his tribe – but Zuko had a very impressive scolding face. “I’m going to rescue my dad. You happy now?”

“I’m never happy.” Zuko deadpanned and oh, Sokka really hoped he was joking because otherwise that was just another strike to add against the stupid Fire Nation’s evil-except-Zuko-and-possibly-General-Iroh Royal family. He didn’t have time to question it further though – and he was pretty sure Zuko wouldn’t elaborate even if he did. The other boy had been strangely even more reticent and weird since the whole group had found out about his orientation even though, as far as Sokka could tell, everyone had been on their absolute best behavior around the former Fire Prince.

“Look,” Sokka said, trying very hard not to cross his arms into a defensive stance as he stood up fully in front of the other boy, close enough to touch but not so close that he was in the other’s space. He shouldn’t feel the need to be defensive at all – he wasn’t doing anything wrong – he was being noble, even, working to fix his own foolish mistake! It was just that Zuko had a very _impressive_ stare down - Sokka pitied any children the omega might choose to have in the future because their mother wasn’t going to let them get away with _anything_. “I _have_ to do this. The invasion plan was my idea! It was my decision to stay when things were going wrong. It’s my mistake and it’s my job to fix it!” Sokka paused for a moment, considering. He didn’t know if his next words would help his cause or set Zuko off but they felt necessary to say, “I have to regain my honor, Zuko.”

The words came out a little softer than Sokka intended and he could see the exact moment they registered to Zuko. Stoic the other boy might try to be, he couldn’t hide the tiny flinch at the words. Sokka didn’t know exactly where Zuko’s obsession with honor had come from but he knew it had to have been a pretty life-altering event if it meant an omega leaving home to pursue a spirittale so obsessively, and it seemed that the other boy hadn’t quite moved on from it. “I have to go,” Sokka repeated, his voice still low, “you can’t stop me.” He added, determination giving his voice a steely edge. He made to move past the other boy, careful not to touch him and was surprised when Zuko made no move to stop him as he began climbing up Appa once more.

“Believe me, I get it.” Zuko’s voice, quiet but carrying in the dark courtyard, reached Sokka just as he reached the top of the saddle. Sokka braced himself for Zuko to tell him he shouldn’t go, all his reasons poised on the tip of his tongue. “I’m going with you.” Sokka nearly fell from Appa once more in surprise. Of all the things he had expected to have to argue with Zuko about, whether or not the former Fire Prince should accompany him on a prison break was _not_ one of them.

He pulled himself up fully onto Appa before turning to look at the other boy. Zuko was staring up at him, his face determined and his arms crossed across his chest and Sokka knew he was about to have a massive fight on his hands. But there was no way he was about to willingly lead an _omega_ into a dangerous, deadly situation. “No way.” He told him, forcing his voice to remain calm and quiet. Zuko’s face narrowed and man, Sokka had forgotten how scary the other boy could look when he wanted to.

“Why not?” Zuko’s voice was even raspier than usual, anger carving the words into a sharp accusation, although Sokka wasn’t clear what he was being accused of.

“It’s dangerous!” He answered back, resisting the urge to raise up his arms to emphasize his point. Zuko’s face darkened further.

“So it’s okay for you to go _alone_?”

“Yes!” Sokka answered back, his voice rising slightly. He knew the other boy was being sarcastic but it didn’t matter. It _was_ okay for him to go alone because it had to be him; but Zuko had no place being in any prison, let alone one owned and operated by the very same country that labeled him a traitor and a fugitive.

Zuko looked positively furious but his next words were surprisingly quiet, albeit scathing, “And how do you plan on getting there? On _Appa_? They’re not going to have a Sky Bison daycare!” Sokka _knew_ that. But it wasn’t like he had any other massive animal capable of flying just lying around anywhere. “We’ll take my war balloon.” He added, his tone matter-of-fact. Sokka did throw his arms out that time, nearly toppling himself out of the saddle that he was still perched on.

“Fine! I’ll take the war balloon but you still aren’t coming!” He told the other boy but Zuko just raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, I am.” He told him simply, his tone daring Sokka to try and stop him. “Because, not only will you need a firebender to operate the war balloon, you also _can’t tell me what I can or can’t do_.” Zuko’s last words were laced with a fiery emphasis that told Sokka exactly how thin the ice he was treading on was. But Sokka was not a monster like ninety percent of all the people Zuko had interacted with before were and he wasn’t about to let _anyone_ join him on a potential suicide mission, let alone an _omega_.

“No way! I’m not going to let you put yourself in danger like this!” Sokka said, jumping down from Appa himself so that he was level with Zuko. Which perhaps wasn’t his finest idea because the other boy looked angry enough to actually _fry_ him.

“You don’t get to _let_ me do anything!” Zuko hissed, and oh dear Yue and La, Sokka could feel the air around them spark with heat. “Let” had definitely been the wrong word. Before Sokka could even think of what to say that would pull the foot out of his mouth, Zuko was continuing. “And if you insist on going along alone, I _will_ wake your sister and _let_ you deal with her instead!”

Oof. The little sister card was never a fun one, especially when _Katara_ was the little sister. Not only was there no way she would let him go alone, there was also a very good chance she’d yell loudly enough to wake up everyone else so that they could have their chance yelling – or in Aang’s case staring with wide-eyed disappointment – at Sokka too.

Sokka couldn’t let himself get stopped; he couldn’t fail his father and leave him to rot in a Fire Nation prison.

But he couldn’t just lead Zuko into danger, either. As much as Sokka hated knowing his father was in prison, he knew that his father’s status as the chief of the Southern Water Tribe would keep him alive, if not well treated. But Zuko? A crown prince turned traitor currently working with the Avatar? Sokka couldn’t imagine the types of horrors the Fire Nation would come up with for the other boy. Doubly so if they found out he was an omega. He was young, but he wasn’t naïve. He knew what sorts of horrors cruel people had forced onto omegas.

But he couldn’t _not_ go.

He would take back everything he’d ever said about Zuko not being an evil member of the Royal family because he _obviously_ was.

“Fine!” Sokka gritted out, feeling rather like he wanted to hit something. “But you stay back and you follow my lead and you don’t do anything stupid!” He enunciated each rule with a finger in the air. Zuko hardly looked satisfied at his victory – rather he looked like he was forcing himself to swallow back some pointed words although Sokka didn’t know what he had said that would anger the other boy more – but he gave a curt nod and turned away to begin briskly marching towards wherever he had hidden his war balloon.

Sokka glanced briefly back at the courtyard where he could just make out the covered forms of his sleeping friends. It was an odd feeling, embarking on this dangerous mission without any of them but he knew it had to be done. With a final look, Sokka turned his head away and began following the quickly fading form of the former Fire Prince.

No matter how determined he was, he couldn’t help but having a niggling feeling that bringing the other boy was going to be a terrible mistake.

He didn’t think he’d be able to fully recover if his actions got Zuko hurt.

He would just have to do his best at keeping the other boy safe.

* * *

Zuko would have felt satisfied at his victory if the Water Tribe boy weren’t so ridiculously infuriating. Zuko had spent his entire life being doubted or looked down upon by his tutors or his father or his father’s advisors; it was an old trick. But being told he wasn’t good enough had its benefits – it made him work harder, made him train until his body felt numb but with two new katas mastered, made him study all through the night until he could recite every major battle and each victorious general’s strategy in his sleep, made him practice his stealth until he could slip anywhere through the palace without alerting a guard to so much as a whisper of his robes. It made him a competent bender and a slightly more than decent swordsman. It wasn’t great and it didn’t come from love or care – Zuko knew that now although it had taken him far longer than it should have to even realized that much – but it was still helpful.

Sokka’s actions though? Zuko couldn’t understand them in the slightest. The bottom line of Sokka’s argument was that the Boiling Rock was dangerous – which Zuko had told him when the idiot first asked him about it – and he didn’t think Zuko was strong enough to handle it. That was simple. Zuko was familiar with that. But to enshroud his doubts with faux caring? To make it seem as though Sokka didn’t want him to go because he didn’t want him to get hurt when the reality was that he didn’t think Zuko could handle it? It was strange, unnecessary, and infuriating.

Even more so was Sokka acting as though he had any ability to _control_ Zuko.

Zuko had rebelled against his family and his country. He had told his father he was leaving just to see the look on the man’s face when he realized Zuko was no longer going to stand aside as the dutiful, loyal son and watch his father burn the world to the ground. Zuko had redirected his father’s attempt to murder him back to the man’s feet and left him in the wreckage.

The very idea that a single Water Tribe boy, hardly older than Zuko was, could have any say in what he did was almost laughable at best and downright infuriating at worst.

Zuko held his tongue though. All while he forced the other boy to write a note with him, giving the others the excuse that they were going fishing because apparently Sokka had never snuck out and didn’t know that his friends would absolutely worry if he just disappeared and honestly some people were good children and it showed, he held his tongue. While he added the note to Aang telling him to keep up with his practice – which was definitely because the boy needed to master fire and not because Zuko needed some outlet before he exploded and the tiny monk was an easy target – he kept his tongue.

He held his tongue all through the short time it took him to lead the other boy to his war balloon and start the fire that would fill it up with hot air. What they were attempting to do was stupidly, recklessly dangerous. The type of dangerous that would have made Uncle shout that Zuko wasn’t thinking things through again; the type of dangerous that usually ended with Zuko receiving several broken bones and a fresh wanted poster. It wasn’t the time or place to yell at Sokka for treating Zuko like some helpless child. Distractions like that got people killed or, worse, captured.

So he held his tongue as Sokka clambered into the basket with him.

And he held his tongue as they started their slow ascent.

He held his tongue even a small, nasty part of him that sounded uncomfortably like Azula pointed out that they weren’t so high that pushing Sokka out of the war balloon likely wouldn’t result in any serious, lasting damage.

He held his tongue as they finally reached the proper height amongst the clouds and began moving forwards towards the volcanic prison. The air around them should have been cold – that high in the air, everything was cold – but Zuko’s temper, even as he carefully tried to funnel it into the tiny, precise bursts of fire he threw into the engine of the balloon, rolled off of his body and heated the air all around the basket of the balloon. Still, even as his anger swirled in the hot air around them, Zuko held his tongue.

He rather thought even Uncle would have been proud of the restraint.

Even with his restraint, Sokka seemed to be able to sense the tension rolling off the other boy because he quickly absconded into a raised corner of the balloon and sat there, leaning casually against the basket, and watched the clouds as they passed by. Zuko appreciated the silence, it held him keep a hold on his temper and it prevented the Water Tribe boy from saying anything more stupid. It also gave him plenty of time to think over Sokka’s words and stew on their meaning, which was less pleasant, but Zuko was no stranger to invasive, incensing thoughts. He could handle them.

Unfortunately, the trip to Boiling Rock was long and Sokka impatient.

It only took an hour for the boy to break the almost peaceful silence.

“Pretty clouds,” Sokka said as Zuko aimed another small burst into the engine. Zuko spared a moment to send the other boy an unamused look and didn’t deign to answer him. Sokka seemed to flush slightly at Zuko’s sharp look and quickly turned his head back to the sky.

The other boy was just trying to make conversation and they were about to do something stupidly dangerous together. Maybe Zuko should set aside his anger and engage a bit with Sokka. Tension could easily break down any cooperation they would need to stage a prison break.

And the clouds _were_ pretty fluffy.

Which was the exact kind of thing Sokka undoubtedly expected an omega to notice. 

Zuko chose not to say anything and sent another blast into the furnace.

The silence around them continued for a half hour before the Water Tribe broke it again. By whistling. The same notes his uncle would whistle when he was thinking about something but trying to act inconspicuous.

Zuko gave the other boy five seconds before finally turning and barking out, “ _what_?”

The other boy had the audacity to look momentarily confused as he turned to face Zuko, his arms thrown onto either side of the basket, evidently unconcerned that they were hundreds of feet in the air.

Traversing around the world on a Sky Bison probably did away with most fears of height.

“What? I didn’t say anything,” Sokka said, voice almost too carefully casual. Zuko took a deep steadying breath – good people didn’t fry someone just because they were whistling. Even if they acted strangely and doubted one’s abilities just because they could. He turned back to the furnace without another word. He would just ignore Sokka’s whistling – he had plenty of practice learning to deal with the noise from his uncle.

Unfortunately for Zuko, the other boy no longer seemed interested in silence. “You know,” Sokka began and Zuko felt his body tense. This was the moment when Sokka said something ferociously stupid again and Zuko finally lost it. “My friend actually designed these war balloons.” Oh. Zuko hadn’t been expecting that. For a brief second, he debated ignoring it just as he had done the whistling but it was obvious that the other boy was at least trying to move on from their admittedly brief fight back at the air temple and Uncle had always tried to teach Zuko that it was better to let go of anger than to hold onto it. He couldn’t very well ask his uncle for forgiveness when he finally found him again if he didn’t start actively trying to take his advice.

With a steadying breath, Zuko made the conscious effort to unclench his body. The heat around him momentarily spiked before Zuko forced it down. The resulting chill was almost shocking as it bit against his exposed skin – he hadn’t quite realized how hot he was making everything. Wondering vaguely if he was going to regret this decision, Zuko half turned to the other boy. “No kidding?” He asked quietly, careful to keep any residual anger from his voice. Sokka seemed to brighten up slightly at the unexpected response.

“Yup!” He said, sitting up somewhat so he wasn’t completely leaning against the wall of the war balloon. He seemed oddly – proud? Zuko didn’t quite understand what was to be proud about simply knowing someone who had made something, especially when that something was currently helping the entire world’s enemy win a brutal war, but perhaps friends were often just proud of each other. “A balloon but for –“ Sokka’s proud little grin fell slightly and was replaced by the far more common weird little frown he often wore around Zuko now. Zuko scowled and turned back to the engine.

He raised a hand and executed another perfect fire blast as he, scathingly, finished Sokka’s sentence with a hissed “war.” The air was becoming hot again but Zuko didn’t bother to correct it. He didn’t understand what exactly Sokka’s problem was with talking about potentially violent subjects with Zuko but he was getting sick of it. He may have been a prince – pampered, undoubtedly, by any Southern Water Tribe’s standard – but he was just as experienced in the war as the others were. He had grown up in it just as much, had scars from it just like any of the others.

It had probably not been his best idea to continue talking, but the sudden wave of bitterness – at both his family and homeland for perpetuating a brutal war that left children parentless and families homeless and hungry and at Sokka for _constantly_ acting weird – loosened his tongue. “If there’s anything my father is good at, it’s war.” Venom dripped from his words as he shot another fire blast into the furnace.

It seemed Zuko’s tongue had not been the only one loosened for, without a pause, the other boy replied, quietly as though Zuko wouldn’t hear him even though they were barely feet apart, “Yeah, seems to run in the family.”

Zuko didn’t even bother trying to keep his temper. Sokka wouldn’t even talk war or hunting with him anymore but he had the audacity to talk about his family like that, as if he really knew Uncle or had ever met Zuko’s mother? “Not all my family is like that!” Zuko was practically shouting and Sokka had the gall to look surprised, as though he hadn’t just insulted Zuko’s entire family by comparing them all to the monster that was his father.

Sokka was quick to put up his hands in a consoling gesture, “I know that you’re not actually like that, you were forced –“

_Forced_? Zuko had no idea what the other boy was even talking about. But he didn’t think he wanted to, either. It was probably something just as stupid as all the rest of the weird things Sokka had been doing and Zuko probably would end up doing something rash if he let the other boy continue. Still louder than he had any need to be, Zuko cut Sokka off. “I was talking about my uncle.”

Spirits, it hurt to even say his name and just like that, Zuko’s anger seemed to flee him. He had already acted so shamefully towards his uncle; it was just another slap to the man’s face to continue to hold on to this anger. “He always tried to help me,” Zuko added, his voice distant as he looked down at the floor of the basket, “always acted more like a father to me. And I really let him down.” It was strange, how easily the words came to him. He had just been shouting at the Water Tribe boy and now he was practically baring his soul to him. Zuko didn’t even understand it, but it felt almost nice to say the words aloud.

Sokka was quiet for a moment. Then, in a heartfelt voice that Zuko knew he didn’t actually deserve, he said, “I think your uncle would be proud of you.” Before Zuko could even react to the unexpectedly kind words, the other boy was continuing, “leaving your home to come help us? That had to be hard.”

There was something in Sokka’s tone again that Zuko probably should have taken offense to, but instead, thinking of the harshness of his father and at how cold the palace was without his Uncle and with the specter of his mother following his every step, he just quietly added, “it wasn’t that hard.”

Another incomprehensible expression darkened the other boy’s face – almost sad, but angry too? Before Zuko had a chance to fully decipher it, Sokka was speaking again. “Really? You didn’t leave behind anyone you cared about?” His question seemed more pleading than curious, as if the idea that Zuko might have had no one to leave behind was somehow sad to him. Zuko rather thought that Sokka would be happy to know that – it meant Zuko’s loyalties were not split between his family and the Avatar. Then again, it wasn’t like the Water Tribe boy fully trusted Zuko anyway.

Still, his question reverberated through Zuko’s mind and he took a moment to consider it.

When he had been banished, Zuko had missed his father terribly. It was nonsensical. The Fire Lord had held fire to his face until the skin had melted, until the sight was almost completely gone from his eye, until all the nerve endings were dead and his hearing irreparably damaged. And then he had thrown him out, with only a spirittale to chase, a crew who knew nothing and resented taking orders from a thirteen-year-old, and an uncle Zuko had never fully appreciated. And still, Zuko had missed him.

But when he had returned, he had finally been able to see his father for who the man really was. A monster with the face of a human, who would gladly watch the world burn just to claim rule over the ashes. It was safe to say that Zuko had gladly left the man behind.

His sister was the only other family member to remain in the palace and Zuko’s feelings about her were more complicated. They had almost been friends, or as near to it as they had been since their father had taken interest in his youngest child, when Zuko had returned from Ba Sing Se with her. But even that was shrouded by the lies Azula had told, the careful manipulations she maintained even as she smiled and gladly welcomed him back. And Zuko knew, when he saw her again, they would not hesitate to fight, as neither had been taught to bow down to enemies. Even if that enemy was blood.

_Especially_ if that enemy was blood. For that meant the enemy was a traitor.

No, Zuko couldn’t say he regretted leaving her behind, either.

With no other family, that left only acquaintances. Ty Lee was friendly, but Zuko didn’t know her well enough to say he cared about her. They had bonded – or rather Ty Lee had demanded that they had bonded – over being the only two omegas at the forefront of the entire Fire Nation army. Ty Lee had dragged him, on several notable occasions, off to have what she called “omega bonding” which had really just been Zuko sitting awkwardly while Ty Lee cheerfully pattered on about things she couldn’t or wouldn’t talk about with Azula and Mai because “silly, Zuko, what do alphas know about heats?” It should be noted, Ty Lee never seemed to care that Zuko didn’t really want to know about Ty Lee’s heats either. Or her favorite nesting materials, or how her father was considering his options in who would still be willing to marry her, now that she was returned from the circus and the war seemed poised to end, or how she had met just the “ _cutest_ alpha!” But even with those strange forced bonding moments, Zuko did not really consider Ty Lee a friend.

And even if he did, they were enemies the next time they saw each other. Ty Lee might loudly apologize while she danced around him, trying to land blows that would block his chi, but she still wouldn’t hesitate to strike. And neither would Zuko.

So no, not her either.

Which left Mai. The only person besides his father he had bothered to tell he was leaving.

Mai, who was sort of a friend, sort of something more.

Zuko didn’t know if there was a term for a relationship like his and Mai’s had been. There had been talks, he knew, between his father and hers of an official courtship but that, even if Zuko had stayed, would have been years away. Fire Nation custom dictated that a formal courtship – especially between the crown heir and their potential spouse – could not take place until both were at the age of majority. Mai would have been a more than suitable choice for Fire Lady, Zuko knew. First and foremost, she was an alpha, which meant that she would be able to temper what others were sure to consider Zuko’s “emotional” omega nature. On top of that, she was intelligent, calculating, and powerful enough that even as a non-bender she was still considered a viable candidate. Even more importantly, for his father’s standpoint, her family was completely loyal to Ozai and Mai was a close confidant of Azula, who Zuko knew would have been a lot more than a simple advisor to his reign.

So Mai would have undoubtedly ended up his betrothed, had Zuko stayed. Zuko, therefore, should have felt some regret for leaving her behind. But everything Zuko felt about her was far too complicated to put into words.

She had been his childhood crush, when he had been younger and more foolish and thought such flighty things as love mattered. And there was no denying now that she was beautiful or that Zuko didn’t enjoy spending time with her. She was quiet and didn’t force conversation the way others did; she could be quite funny, in a dry sarcastic way that always surprised at least a half-smile out of Zuko. And while Zuko had never been able to get a read on whether or not she liked him at all, she at least seemed to moderately enjoy his presence and she had never expressed any disdain for him being an omega. They probably could have had a peaceful union, had Zuko stayed.

But Zuko had hardly a chance to know if how he felt about her was friendly, like how he felt for Ty Lee, or something more, like what he had felt as a child. He thought her pretty but so was Ty Lee and so were dozens of other people. Attractiveness didn’t always mean actual attraction. Zuko rather thought two people had to spend time alone together to truly know if there was attraction, and that was something he and Mai had never been allowed. It would have been improper, even if they hadn’t been a potential match, for an omega and an alpha of a similar age with no blood between them to be alone together. Zuko’s reputation would have been soured if there had been even a whisper that he had been alone with the alpha girl and it had been Azula’s job to ensure that never happened. Zuko and Mai had not shared much more than a single word without Azula’s presence and there was very little more effective at stemming potential attraction than Zuko’s little sister watching them like a vindictively amused hawk.

And there had also been, of course, the way Mai watched Ty Lee when she thought no one was looking. Zuko doubted she ever knew he noticed – she was too used to being the quiet observant one in a trio of loud personalities to realize someone else could be the same. He saw the way her gaze trailed after her closest friend, equal parts protective and fond, and recognized that she never seemed to watch him the same way. Zuko was almost certain that if she had her choice it wouldn’t be him. And that too, made things complicated. Even if Zuko knew for sure how he felt about the girl, he didn’t think he could manage not being her choice. It had taken him years to come to grips with being the second-best child, he didn’t think he could handle being Mai’s second-best spouse.

And that didn’t even cover the fact that the next time he saw Mai, he wouldn’t be greeted by the tiny, almost fond, smile she sometimes gave him but with her cold blades.

No, Zuko couldn’t say she was someone he had cared about her enough to regret leaving behind either.

“No.” He said aloud, looking up as he finally answered the Water Tribe boy’s question after several moments’ long silence. Sokka’s expression darkened again as yet another emotion Zuko didn’t understand crossed over it. If he didn’t know better, he would have sworn that Sokka looked distraught at the news that Zuko had left no one behind that he cared about, but that was ridiculous. It was a good thing the only person Zuko truly cared about was as far away from the palace as he could possibly be.

“No one? Not even a… girlfriend or a boyfriend?” Sokka’s voice sounded hesitant, as though he couldn’t believe he was asking the question. Zuko’s face scrunched in confusion. Was the other boy messing with him?

But Sokka’s face was earnest, curious and almost hopeful and although Zuko didn’t quite understand why the possibility of Zuko having a romantic partner – something almost laughably outrageous unless there was marriage in the cards – would interest the other at all, he found himself answering. “Well, sort of. There was Mai.”

Sokka’s face bloomed into a grin and Zuko was officially completely lost. He had no idea what the other boy was thinking or where the conversation was going. “The gloomy girl who sighs a lot?” Sokka asked, leaning forward just slightly, still far enough that he didn’t come close to touching Zuko.

Zuko didn’t know that was how the Avatar’s group saw Mai, but he couldn’t deny that the description was apt. “Yeah. She was sort of, almost my betrothed?” Zuko’s voice trailed off into a question. He didn’t know how the Water Tribes viewed marriage or mating, if they had courtships or betrothals. His tutors had told him that the Water Tribes were little more than savages who coupled however they pleased with little permanence in their relationships and raised their children communally because no one knew which child actually belonged to which alpha or beta male, but something about that rang hollow. He knew Katara and Sokka and he had seen the Northern Water Tribe’s massive city. Nothing about them or the land struck Zuko as “savage” and if how they were suddenly treating Zuko taught him anything, he highly doubted they let omegas just go around mating with whoever. But that left his actual knowledge of their customs woefully inadequate. It wasn’t like either Katara or Sokka were planning to teach him about anything resembling _marriage._

Zuko decided his best bet was to continue speaking; even if the Water Tribes didn’t have official courtships, they could be explained. “Our fathers were in talks but nothing would happen for a few more years. Besides, everyone in the Fire Nation thinks I’m a traitor.” He couldn’t hide the bitterness creeping into his voice as he thought about the hatred his homeland must feel for him. “Her father wouldn’t want her dragged into that.” Zuko had known, of course, that he had thrown any future betrothal agreement between him and Mai into the flames when he left – his letter breaking it off would have seen to that, if nothing else – but an oddly unpleasant feeling sat in his stomach when he actually said it aloud. However confusing his feelings for her, he knew he hadn’t wanted to hurt her and at the very least, he had humiliated her by running off.

Zuko turned back to the engine. He knew without looking that the fire was still burning steadily but looking into the flickering flames was far more comforting than at the Water Tribe boy.

There was silence for a moment and Zuko couldn’t help wondering what was running through Sokka’s mind. Did he think Zuko immodest for joining the group when he was nearly betrothed? Did he think his presence around unmated alphas and betas indecent when he had so nearly been bound to someone else?

These were all things people back home would have felt. Zuko braced himself for harsh words.

But when Sokka finally spoke, there was no consternation in his voice. “My first girlfriend was betrothed.” The other boy said softly. Zuko turned to him and saw that his gaze was faraway, looking back at memories Zuko wasn’t privy to. “to someone else.” Sokka added, unprompted and Zuko’s eyes widened in surprise.

Sokka had gotten between someone else’s _engagement_?

In the Fire Nation, an outside alpha breaking an official courtship between an alpha and an omega was punishable by law. Fines could be given, to be paid to the alpha’s family, or even imprisonment if it could be proved that the omega had been unwilling, although it was rare for such cases to ever be successfully fought. In the most common kind of cases, the alpha was expected to enter a courtship with the omega, but Zuko had heard the horror stories of omegas who had been convinced to break their courtships by alphas who never intended to do anything but shame them. It had never been something he had to worry about – any courtship he entered was far too politically important for anyone to dare mess with – but it was still something he’d been warned of when his omega tutor felt it prudent to hammer in, yet again, how important Zuko’s modesty was.

An omega in the aftermath of a broken courtship was considered a tarnished thing and it was very rare they received any other courtship offers. Not that every omega needed a courtship or a marriage or a mating in the Fire Nation where they could hold their own jobs and make their own living, but Zuko had seen in the Earth Kingdom how devastating such an action could be on an omega and their family and he could only imagine, going off on Katara and Sokka’s reactions to _him_ it couldn’t be much better in the Water Tribes.

Zuko didn’t think Sokka was that type of alpha, to shame someone in such a way and then not try and make amends. But the other boy had said “first girlfriend” like it was no big deal.

Perhaps the Water Tribes did look at betrothals differently from the Fire Nation.

Or perhaps Sokka, apart from being weird about omegas, was not a particularly good alpha.

“Oh.” Was all Zuko thought to say. Sokka didn’t seem to even notice he had responded at all; he still had a faraway look in his eyes, caught in old memories.

“She turned into the moon.” The other boy added and for a moment Zuko thought he was speaking nonsense. _She turned into the moon?_ What did that even _mean?_

But then Zuko remembered, vividly, the way the moon had turned red at the North Pole. The way color had briefly leeched from the world, as though some great evil had taken place. Remembered how the ocean had stilled, briefly, terrifyingly, before it had burst forth like some great monster and tore into every Fire Nation ship as though they were nothing but paper. Remembered fighting Zhao one instant and throwing out a desperate hand as the spirit grabbed him the next. Remembered the odd feeling of grief and relief when the other man didn’t accept it and allowed himself to be dragged into the depths.

Whatever had happened to cause all that was spirit business; Zuko knew that much. He had been unconscious and tied up on Appa for a good part of it and he had never been able to drag the specifics from his uncle – one of the few times the man deemed it prudent to keep his mouth shut – but he knew enough to tell when spirits were afoot.

He supposed it was entirely possible for the moon spirit to have laid claim to Sokka’s girlfriend after whatever had happened to make it bleed.

That was a tragedy straight out of one of his mother’s favorite play scrolls and Zuko had absolutely no idea how to react.

He didn’t even understand why he felt oddly relieved at knowing Sokka hadn’t left some poor omega girl behind, let alone how to express that with the proper amount of pity in actual words.

But he couldn’t just say _nothing_. Sokka had opened up to him, offered him a story Zuko didn’t need to be privy to. It would be almost cruel to not acknowledge the peace offering.

“That’s rough, buddy.” He regretted the words the moment they were out of his mouth. What kind of nonsense was that? This was why he wasn’t supposed to speak at important functions; he was absolute trash at it.

Sokka didn’t even acknowledge his words, which was a bit of a blessing - maybe he hadn’t even heard them, so lost in his memories – and silence descended on the war balloon. Zuko turned back to the engine and continued the process of methodically maintaining the fire with short bursts of flame.

Neither spoke again until full darkness was wrapped around them and the Boiling Rock was finally in sight. At some point, Sokka had fallen asleep against the war balloon and began snoring with abandon. Zuko had briefly thought about waking him – it certainly couldn’t have been terribly comfortable sleeping slumped against a hard wall – but he rather enjoyed the silence and the escape from awkward conversation it provided. If he had to sacrifice Sokka’s neck for a reprieve from the awkward tension that had surrounded them ever since his heat, he was perfectly fine with that.

The dark clouds around their war balloon were growing thicker as Zuko shot another small blast into the furnace. He knew they must have been coming up close to the volcanic island and so he wasn’t surprised when he saw a thick billow of steam issuing out from the center of a dark island when he walked to the front of the balloon. “There it is!” He called out just loudly enough to wake the snoring boy behind him. He heard Sokka wake with a start and scramble up to his feet but didn’t turn around, choosing instead to focus on the layout of the island. The steam issuing from the mouth of the volcano was thick and billowing, more than enough to cover the entrance of their war balloon as long as they were careful.

He shared that information with Sokka as the boy rushed towards the front, careful as ever not to touch Zuko even as he leaned over the wall of the balloon to catch his first sight of the prison. Zuko was quick to tamper down the irrational burst of anger at Sokka’s caution – it wasn’t like Zuko _wanted_ the other boy to touch him but the constant treatment of Zuko as some sort of contagious disease was getting old incredibly fast.

But they were far too close to the Fire Nation prison for Zuko to confront Sokka about it and so he said nothing as he quickly made his way back to the furnace and began issuing quick bursts of fire to navigate the balloon directly into the steam.

He would worry about confronting Sokka for his bizarre behavior once they were safely back out of the Boiling Rock and far away from the Fire Nation.

_If_ they made it back out of the Boiling Rock and away from the Fire Nation.

* * *

Sokka stared into the massive billow of steam, nerves thrumming through him and setting every inch of him on fire. His father was down there somewhere, the closest that he’d been since they’d been forced to leave the adults in the Fire Nation on the Day of Black Sun. Sokka was closer than ever to making up for his epic mistake; in perhaps just a few hours, he would have his father back. He’d be able to hug him and ask for forgiveness; he’d have his honor back.

Sokka clenched hard against the wooden pole framing the war balloon. The air around them was growing hot, hotter even than it had been the first few hours of their trip when Zuko had been so angry – and why he had been upset in the first place Sokka didn’t know, it was like the other boy had never been protected before in his life - he was basically steaming them alive. Before Sokka even had a moment to worry over the heat – was the ground they were aiming for even suitable for humans or would it burn through the bottom of their basket the moment they landed – a far more serious problem presented itself. The furnace spluttered loudly behind him and the basket dipped dangerously underneath his feet. Sokka forced back a cry of alarm as he turned to look back at Zuko.

Zuko looked just as surprised as Sokka, quickly firing ineffective bursts of fire into the furnace in a vain effort to keep the balloon afloat. “The balloon’s not working anymore!” Zuko whispered fiercely, the concern in his voice almost frantic as he continued blasting the furnace. Sokka rushed to the other side as the heat grew even thicker around them.

It took only a moment for Sokka to realize their grave mistake. “The air outside is just as hot as the air inside, so we can’t fly!” He yelled, trying hard to keep the panic from his voice. Before he could say anything more, the war balloon tipped dangerously and Zuko, who had no place to safely put his hands, fell hard with it, his body skidding across the war balloon towards the wall of the basket. Without even thinking, Sokka moved. Where Zuko should have hit the wall, he fell against Sokka’s body instead. Sokka let out a little grunt as the impact sent his back into the hard metal instead.

The war balloon continued falling but for a single moment, Sokka’s attention was not on the immediate threat. How could it have been when there was a far more pressing concern on his mind.

Zuko had somehow – and somewhere some spirit with a terrible sense of humor was laughing at Sokka – landed on the top of Sokka’s legs with his back pressed against Sokka’s chest. Effectively, Sokka had a lapful of Zuko, which was not a situation he had ever expected to find himself in. The other boy was lighter than Sokka had expected – and he had expected him to be light, the boy was far too thin for his own good – and warmer too, an almost unbearable heat in the already stupidly hot air around them. And his scent – his stupidly strong, really nice scent that Sokka was definitely _not_ trying to pay attention to because that was rude and it was _so_ not the time – was quickly overpowering all of Sokka’s senses as it swirled around him in all its heady, almost spicy floral glory.

Zuko came to his senses far more quickly than Sokka did and quickly scrambled away from him, before half turning on his knees to face Sokka, a frantic look in his eyes that reminded Sokka that oh yeah, they were currently free falling on a metal death trap. “What are we supposed to do?” Zuko asked him and Sokka’s stomach clenched painfully at how Zuko’s tone verged on panic. He never should have allowed the omega to come with him, never should have agreed to take a war balloon into the middle of a volcano. Sokka knew how much the stupid thing relied on hot air. Zuko was in danger because Sokka couldn’t remember the most basic, crucial fact on an invention he’d help make.

They were dipping closer and closer to the boiling water now. Even if Sokka could have thought of something, anything, that would keep the war balloon afloat, there simply wasn’t enough time. “We’ll have to crash land!” Zuko’s face said exactly how he felt about that plan – or lack thereof, to be more specific – but there wasn’t even time for him to fully voice his displeasure. The basket of the war balloon hit the steaming water with a loud splash and then it was skidding across the water at a dangerous pace, heading straight towards the rocky shore of the central island.

It was going to be a painful landing, Sokka knew even before the war balloon hit the shore and sent both boys flying into the ground. Without thinking fully – again, because apparently Sokka was becoming really good at that – he reached towards Zuko and pulled him against him before they hit the ground. For the second time in a very short while – if they made it back to the air temple, Katara was going to kill him for being so reckless - Sokka’s back hit hard against a rough surface as Zuko landed sprawled across him, his face pushed protectively into Sokka’s chest.

The other boy was even quicker getting off him than he had been the first time, scrambling onto his knees and off Sokka as though the touch had stung. Sokka would have felt bad – he had seen just how much being touched by anyone except the Duke made Zuko uncomfortable and had spent a considerable amount of time trying and failing to convince Toph to stop punching the poor guy, after all – but the need to protect Zuko from a rough landing was more important than comfort. Judging from the scowl on the other boy’s face as Sokka quickly sat up, Zuko seemed to disagree.

For a moment, Sokka braced himself for angry words, silently hopeful that at the very least Zuko wouldn’t yell loud enough to draw premature attention to them, but then Zuko seemed to force his anger away and turned his gaze towards the collapsed mess that had once been a fully-functioning aircraft. “How are we going to get off the island if the balloon won’t work?” He asked, voice surprisingly steady. Sokka turned to look at the balloon. The material of the balloon was still slowly deflating in on itself and he knew just by glancing at it that there was no way Zuko would be able to produce enough heat to counteract an actual boiling lake and reflate it.

“We’ll figure it out.” He said, hopeful that his voice was more confident than he actually felt. The look Zuko shot him at that was a dark one and Sokka immediately swallowed his next few words. He didn’t think it would help the situation any to admit that, before he had reluctantly agreed to bring Zuko along, he had suspected the trip would be one way. Instead he stood up and walked over to the still collapsing balloon and began throwing the thick fabric into the bottom of basket.

“What are you doing?” Zuko asked, his tone nearly as dark as the look he had given him, as he stomped over to Sokka. Sokka didn’t say anything as he put his hands out to push the basket - and just as quickly removed them because of course the war balloon was stupid Fire Nation metal and metal heated up ridiculously quickly in stupidly hot Fire Nation boiling lakes. Inwardly cursing, Sokka shook his hands around in the stifling air, hoping for small reprieve for his poor fingers, and reached a foot out to give the war balloon a solid push.

The balloon creaked slightly and then slid smoothly into the water. The metal was heavy and it didn’t take long for the whole thing to succumb to the bubbling water and disappear quickly in the small waves. “It doesn’t work and we don’t want anyone to find it,” Sokka finally said, turning towards Zuko once he was sure the last piece of wooden frame had gone under. He half expected Zuko to be furious – that was, after all, _Zuko’s_ war balloon and it wasn’t like the other boy had been in a good mood to begin with – but Zuko’s face was more surprised than angry and it didn’t take long for even that emotion to disappear off his face.

“I hope you know what you are doing.” Zuko told him, his voice heavy.

As if on some invisible cue, they both turned away from the water and towards the island. Looming above them was a massive building, dark except for fire-lit windows. “There’s no turning back now.” Zuko added, unknowingly echoing Sokka’s thoughts.

Sokka tried hard not to think too much about that. His first priority was keeping Zuko safe and getting to his father was a close second. He didn’t have time to overthink or second guess something he’d already put in motion. He turned away from the imposing building and began scanning the rocky shore, looking for any dark cave they could use.

“What are you looking for?” Zuko asked. His voice was still heavy, raspier even than it usually was, but he seemed ready to let Sokka take the lead. How long that would last, especially with what Sokka had planned for him, he didn’t know but he would take advantage of it while he could.

“A cave, or even just a rock overhang that can be used as shelter.” He replied, beginning to slowly trek over to the cliff side. Zuko followed immediately and Sokka tried not to reflect on how they would be immediately noticeable if any guard was doing rounds on the shore.

“Why? It’ll be easier to slip into the prison if we go now,” Zuko said. “It’s a lot riskier to wait until the morning.” He added when Sokka failed to respond to him. Sokka tried not to let anything show on his face as he began closely examining the rock for any hidden crevice. It didn’t have to be particularly large for just one person, but he would still prefer some wriggle room in case of guards. “Sokka.” Zuko said and there was definitely a warning in his voice. Knowing there was no way to hide it now, Sokka reluctantly turned towards the other boy.

Zuko was staring Sokka down, suspicion clear in his eyes. Sokka gulped slightly but steeled himself for what he had to say. It was for Zuko’s protection, whether or not the other boy agreed. “It will be easier to slip into the prison now,” he began. “Which is why I’ll be going as soon as we find a spot you can hide in.” His voice was steady and serious. He had known the moment the war balloon had begun falling that taking Zuko on this dangerous mission was stupidly reckless and finding the omega a safe place to hide while Sokka infiltrated the prison was the only recourse he had left. There was no way he was about to lead him into even worse danger.

For a brief moment, there was silence. For a brief moment, Sokka allowed himself to hope that Zuko would agree to this, that Zuko would understand where Sokka was coming from, and that he would allow himself to be protected, potentially for the first time in a long while.

For a brief moment, Sokka fantasized that this would be easy.

And then Zuko exploded.

“Are you _kidding_ me?” It was impressive how Zuko could manage to squeeze so much volume and venom in what was in reality little more than a whisper. “I came all this way to help _you_ get back your father from one of the most dangerous places in the Fire Nation _after_ explicitly telling you going to it was a bad idea, and you think you’re just going to leave me out here to wait for you to maybe not get yourself killed and come back?” He was seething as he threw his hands into the air in an incredulous motion. Sokka was surprised that no fire flew from the tips of Zuko’s fingers and had to force himself not to back up from the irate boy.

He needed to stand firm and hold his ground or Zuko would never listen to him.

“I shouldn’t have agreed to let you come! This is my mission which means making sure no one gets hurt is _my_ responsibility! Do you really think it’ll go well for the Traitor prince to show up in the prison unannounced?” Sokka regretted the words the moment they came from his mouth. Reminding Zuko that he was, by all intents and purposes, a traitor to his homeland was never a good idea. Especially not in the middle of a fight.

But Zuko seemed unfazed by it – or at least, he was more outraged by the rest of the statement. “And you think some Water Tribe boy is going to have better luck getting in?” He demanded, his voice almost scathing. “You would have been shot from the sky before you even came close if it weren’t for me!”

“I know that!” It was Sokka’s turn to send his arms flying in irritation. “But that doesn’t mean I can just let you waltz into that prison! It’s too dangerous!” The reason why it was too dangerous for Zuko, a young omega with an incredibly strong, ridiculously pleasant - not that Sokka would ever be caught dead admitting that aloud – scent and not for Sokka, a young alpha, went unsaid.

Somehow Zuko still seemed to pick up on it. And it brought him to some wild conclusions.

“Oh! So it’s fine for you to risk your life but not for the poor, defenseless omega?” Zuko was almost shouting now and Sokka would have been worried if his scathing words hadn’t shocked almost all the thoughts from his mind. He had never said he thought Zuko was _defenseless_. No one could have fought against the former prince and come out thinking he was defenseless. “Why don’t you just admit you don’t think I’m good enough to join you and get it over with!” Zuko was still shouting, more and more biting words that made no sense.

“I don’t think you aren’t good enough!” Sokka responded, equal parts indignant and confused. “I know you’re strong! But –“

“There are no “buts”!” Zuko interrupted loudly. “You don’t want me up there with you because you don’t think an omega can handle it! You don’t think I can handle any of it!” Sokka wasn’t quite sure what “it” was but he had a sinking feeling it involved more than just this excursion.

“You can handle anything!” He argued back. “It has nothing to do with your abilities! It’s-“ It’s that Zuko shouldn’t have to handle any of it – shouldn’t have to handle the violence or the fighting, shouldn’t have to plan prison breaks for prisoners of war or prepare an Avatar to defeat his own father. It’s that Zuko should be protected and how could Sokka possibly protect him if he led him straight into danger? It’s not that Zuko was an inadequate omega, it was that it was an alpha’s job to protect and Sokka had already proved himself to be an inadequate alpha at the North Pole and on the day of the eclipse and he couldn’t do that a third time; he couldn’t willingly lead the former prince into a place that would try to hurt him a thousand times over if given even half a chance –

All these things were on the tip of his tongue, battling for their way out but before he could say anything more, Zuko was interrupting again, “then stop being all _weird_ and let me help you!” There was something starkly close to desperation marring the anger in Zuko’s tone and Sokka felt his resolve waver.

Sokka could run and leave Zuko here on the beach and pray to any spirit listening that the boy stayed, but he knew he wouldn’t. Zuko would find his own way up into that prison, probably quicker than Sokka himself could, and then he would be all alone fighting his way through with no idea what the person he was searching for looked like. But if he were with Sokka, at least he would be able to keep on eye on him. He could protect him.

Still, he couldn’t let the fight die so easily. “Your scent is too obvious! It’ll get us caught!” Sokka tried to ignore the fact that his own scent, like the icy, salty ocean shores mixed with the sharp tang of metal from the Southern Water Tribe, was just as distinguishable as he spoke. The Fire Nation was a system of islands, surely there were more than a few whose scents were like the ocean and no one would be sniffing close enough to catch the icy distinctiveness if he did everything right.

Zuko scoffed loudly in response. Then, as though a gust of wind had come to blow it all away, his scent disappeared. Sokka blinked and tried to unobtrusively sniff the air – a very faint scent of something warm caught in his nose but nothing else. Not even a hint of fire lilies remained in the air. Sokka had become so used to Zuko’s normal scent that he had completely forgotten he had once thought the boy a beta. He had completely forgotten that someone had taught Zuko to hide what he was and that Zuko could do it without even blinking.

It was not a pleasant thing to remember. Especially because it meant Sokka had no further arguments about why Zuko should stay on the shore. At least none that he could bring himself to say aloud. “Fine!” Sokka finally said. “But you have to stick close and follow whatever plan I come up with!” Sokka pointed one warning finger at Zuko, knowing full well that he couldn’t actually force the former prince to do anything.

Zuko looked as though he wanted to continue arguing, his expression darkly murderous. “You don’t even have a plan!” He hissed, his voice still seething with anger.

“You know what I mean!” Sokka flung out, impatient and irritated. He wanted to go find his father but he wouldn’t budge from this spot until he had Zuko’s word that he wouldn’t go off on his own the moment they made it inside the prison. He _needed_ Zuko’s promise that he wouldn’t go off without Sokka.

Zuko still looked murderous but he seemed to sense, just as much as Sokka had, that it was better to give in a little than continue fighting. “Fine, I’ll make sure that I stay close to you like a good, _obedient little omega_.” Zuko’s voice was positively dripping with venom and Sokka had to force himself not to flinch as they both turned away from each other and up towards the prison once more.

Sokka hated that he’d made Zuko feel that way. Hated that he made Zuko feel as though somehow, Sokka thought him lesser as an omega. He didn’t – he knew Zuko was capable and strong, a terrifying master firebender and an expert tracker. He knew they were lucky to have him on their side and not against them anymore. He wanted Zuko to understand that Sokka’s actions were not from thinking himself superior – he’d already that learned that particular lesson from both his own little sister and Suki. He wanted Zuko to understand that his desire to protect him had nothing to do with thinking him lesser and everything to do with that Zuko _should_ _have_ been protected and not forced to learn how to be such an expert fighter to protect himself.

He wanted Zuko to understand that it was Sokka’s job to protect him because it was so obvious no one else had.

But Sokka couldn’t say any of this now. Zuko was in no mood to hear it, for one, and Sokka knew better than to try and poke the sleeping polar bear dog. For another, they were currently trying to find a way to climb their way into a virtually impenetrable prison and that was an endeavor that required all of his attention. Once this was all over, if they made it out alright, Sokka would talk it out with the former prince and put it all to rights.

First though, he needed to get them into and out of the Boiling Rock safely, with his father alongside them.

First, he would keep the other boy safe.

He just needed to figure out how.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick note: I updated a few more tags for this chapter, and I probably will add a few more when I post the final one. Some of the dialogue comes from the actual show, not from me.

Zuko was absolutely furious the entire time they had made their way into the prison. He had been furious as they scaled the low cliff that led to the prison – Sokka had insisted on finding a secure path and then going up first to make sure it really was secure and it had taken all of Zuko’s will power not to shoot a small fire blast at Sokka’s feet. He had been furious as they found a small, inobtrusive door that led to the guards’ section of the prison – Sokka had insisted he break the lock even though it would have taken Zuko half the time to get through it and Zuko had barely resisted the temptation to smack the other boy over the head. He had been furious as they snaked their way through the halls cautiously, eyes constantly out for other figures and footsteps near silent – Sokka hadn’t really done anything then but Zuko had _still_ found himself carefully focusing on deep calming breaths.

He had been furious when they had made their way into a room full of guards’ uniforms – Sokka had made some strange squawking noise when Zuko had turned away from him, grabbed the first uniform that would fit him and immediately began disrobing but it wasn’t like they had _time_ for true modesty. Zuko couldn’t demand Sokka go stand outside while he changed and risk getting him caught as someone who obviously didn’t belong in the prison.

That didn’t stop his cheeks from being slightly pink as he turned back around, fully dressed, nor did it stop his contemplation that a quick, expert hit with one of the helmets would knock the accompanying flush off the other boy’s cheeks real quick.

And he was still furious as they left the room, fully camouflaged in the dark red, armored uniforms of the guards. Sokka took the lead out of the room and, as much as Zuko resented it, he had no choice but to follow closely. He could have disappeared down the hall easily without the other boy catching him but Sokka would undoubtedly cause a scene and get himself caught the moment he realized Zuko was gone. Sure, Zuko could probably break him out of wherever they ended up holding him – and enjoy a few hours of reprieve - but he also had no idea what Sokka’s father even looked like or what his name was.

Going off alone would accomplish absolutely nothing and just endanger the whole mission, so Zuko just silently fumed as he followed after the other boy.

Sokka stopped right at the corner of the hall and turned back to Zuko. “I don’t know how long these uniforms will work for. We have to lay low and find my dad as soon as possible.” Before Zuko had a chance to respond – a sarcastic retort was already poised on the tip of his tongue – there was a loud commotion a hall down from them.

Zuko couldn’t help but flinch as they both looked down the hall and saw a large crowd of guards rushing out. Before Zuko could pull Sokka back away from the corner – and really for someone so convinced he was the superior one he didn’t have the sense to _duck out of sight when a large group of enemies were around,_ a guard spotted them. Zuko braced himself for the possibility of a fight but without missing a beat the guard barked out “There’s a scuffle in the yard. Come on!” and gestured for them to follow after the crowd before turning and sprinting down the hallway.

Sokka and Zuko briefly shared a look – and Zuko didn’t even have it in him to glare, his heart was thumping too hard with the sudden adrenaline rush to allow anger through – before rushing down the hall to join the crowd as inconspicuously as possible.

The hallway opened to a sparse but surprisingly spacious courtyard – Zuko hadn’t expected the Fire Nation’s most secure prison to have a halfway decent outside space. He didn’t have time to inspect though as his gaze was immediately drawn to a large circle forming in the center of the space. Whatever commotion that had upset the guards was obviously in the middle of that and he didn’t waste any time taking advantage of his guard’s uniform to push aside the prisoners – careful not to let his still simmering anger out in harder than necessary shoves – and get to the front. Sokka was right behind him but Zuko paid him no attention, easily sliding into position to form a barrier between the center of the circle and the prisoners with the rest of the real guards.

It was easy to see what had caused the commotion although Zuko didn’t quite understand why it called for so many guards. A single prisoner – a massive alpha man with short hair and an impressive scowl – stood in the center. Facing off of him was a guard, a good few inches shorter than the prisoner but stocky. His scent wasn’t nearly as strong as the other man’s, making him either a beta or an omega who masked while he worked, but seemed more than willing to make up for it with an aggressive, straight-backed stance and a leering sneer. He reminded him of Zhao. Zuko hated him on sight.

He had a bad feeling as to where this was about to go but he had no choice but to stand firm and watch as it unfolded. He just hoped the utter idiot next to him had the same sense.

“I didn’t do anything!” The massive prisoner said, his voice irritated but not quite angry and far calmer than Zuko would have been in his situation. Zuko didn’t know if the man was lying or not. Judging from the firm stances of the guards all around them and the expressions from all the prisoners – ranging from hungrily amused to vaguely horrified – it wouldn’t matter either way to the guard in the center with him. “I’m going back to my cell!” The man announced, apparently unconcerned as he turned his back to the guard and began stalking his way out of the circle.

Zuko knew he had made a vital mistake even before the guard conjured up a fire whip and cracked it dangerously close to the large prisoner. “Stop right there, Chit Sang.” The man’s voice was confident, almost smug as the prisoner – Chit Sang – obediently stopped. Zuko found himself hating the man even more – who did he think he was, abusing his power and the people like this? It didn’t matter that Chit Sang was a prisoner – he was still under this man’s care and he hadn’t done anything to warrant –

Zuko hadn’t even realized he had taken a half step forward until there was a warm _something_ suddenly near his elbow. He glanced down to see light brown fingers hovering just above his pale skin, nearly touching but not quite breaking that barrier. He turned slightly and met eyes with Sokka. Zuko’s irritation flared at the warning, concerned look in Sokka’s eyes but he obeyed the silent shake of the other boy’s head. He hated doing anything the obnoxious boy wanted him to do but that didn’t change the fact that he was right. Zuko couldn’t risk blowing their cover for a man he didn’t even know, no matter how awful the guard was about to treat him

He gave a small nod back to Sokka and the other boy dropped his hand. Then Zuko turned back to the scene in front of him. He couldn’t do anything to help Chit Sang but he could at least give the prisoner some respect by not looking away.

“I’ve had it with your unruly behavior,” the guard was speaking again, dispersing his flame whip as he walked towards the prisoner and stopping just a few feet from the man. He was smirking and Zuko wanted nothing more than to punch him right in his smug face – how much that desire had to do with the man in the circle and how much it had to do with the boy next to him Zuko refused to think about.

Chit Sang didn’t bother turning to face the man – a blatant act of disrespect that alone would be enough to warrant a punishment – but he did turn his head slightly to speak over his shoulder. “What did I do?” His voice was full of disdain, challenging and rude in tone and Zuko braced himself for the blow that was surely to come.

But the guard didn’t strike the prisoner. He wasn’t done quite done toying with the man. “He wants to know what he did.” There was a cruel sort of amusement in the guard’s voice that echoed on his face when he turned and leaned in towards Sokka. “Isn’t that cute?” He mocked, raising a thumb to point towards the prisoner. He obviously wanted Sokka to go along with him, wanted someone to play along with his goading, and Zuko wanted to smack the Water Tribe boy when he said nothing. For someone who claimed to know a good deal about the Fire Nation, he had no idea how the power structure worked.

The guard looked back at them, a frown forming on his lips and Zuko swallowed his anger to reply to him, staring straight ahead so as not to succumb to the desire of blowing fire into the man’s face, “very cute, sir.”

Sokka, the idiot, seemed to finally decide to use the one brain cell the spirits had given him to chime in, “super cute!”

That seemed to appease the guard because his smirk returned as he looked back towards Chit Sang. “You didn’t bow when I walked by, Chit Sang.” The man said, his voice full of fake disappointment as he began to walk around the man. Chit Sang, to his credit, didn’t so much as flinch as the guard came close to him although Zuko could see how his muscles tensed.

“That’s not a prison rule!” Chit Sang said, his voice louder than it had been before and full of barely restrained outrage. Zuko could feel a similar anger boiling inside him – this was a disgusting display of power meant just to gild the ego of an otherwise unimportant man – and his entire body tensed as the man came close to Chit Sang and leaned up to him.

“Do it!” The man said and his voice had finally lost the almost playful quality of his goading, replaced instead with a promise of violence.

Chit Sang was unmoved. “Make me.” The prisoner said and Zuko nearly cringed. The guard hadn’t hit him yet but that was soon to change. Even in less strict places, amongst free citizens, no disrespect like that would go unpunished in the Fire Nation.

The crowd around them all seemed to hold their breath, waiting for the blow that was sure to come. Even Sokka was tense and unmoving beside Zuko, his eyes locked onto the pair in the center of the circle. The air was tense, almost stiflingly still as everyone waited – would fire be the weapon or was Chit Sang not even worth that? Would the guard strike him bare-handed instead?

Then, just when Zuko thought the world might snap with the tension, the guard stepped away from Chit Sang, an amused smile on his face. He walked a few steps away and for a moment, to the less trained eye, it looked like he might leave Chit Sang alone but Zuko was nearly an expert in these situations – his father’s hand on his face had almost been a comfort as it had cupped his cheek in the calm before the storm, and then it had erupted into excruciating fire. Chit Sang was not going to leave unscathed.

The change came quickly. Still smirking, the guard turned back to Chit Sang and suddenly there was fire back in his hands, shaped like a whip and then it was cracking in the air, racing towards Chit Sang’s unprotected back –

But then Chit Sang was turning, his hands moving just as fast as his feet and the whip turned back on its master. The guard must have expected the reversion – undoubtedly he had done this before, maybe to Chit Sang, maybe to another prisoner – for his foot was up before the fire had even come close to singing him and one swift kick dispersed the flame into nothing but tiny flickers and softly burning embers that extinguished as they touched the ground.

The guard’s smile had dropped from his face and he gave a loud, disappointed tutting noise as he shook his head. “Firebending is prohibited.” He said, his voice laced with a faux veneer of disappointment as though he had not blatantly set the other man up. “You’re goin’ in the cooler.” Zuko didn’t know what the “cooler” was but it must have been bad, judging from the soft outbreaking of murmurs from the prisoners behind him and the way Chit Sang’s body seemed to tense all over as he stood from his defensive stance and dropped his hands.

Before Zuko could even react, the guard was suddenly pointing straight at Sokka. “You! Help me bring him in!” Sokka startled and looked straight towards Zuko as the guard turned his back. Zuko could see how much the Water Tribe boy wanted to argue, how much he wanted to fight leaving Zuko on his own, how much he didn’t trust Zuko not to mess anything up and suddenly, like a switch had been hit inside him, Zuko’s anger returned full force upon Sokka.

"Go!” He hissed, gesturing towards the guard. They only had a moment before the guard reached Chit Sang and if Sokka wasn’t there to help restrain him, it was going to look far too suspicious.

Still Sokka hesitated and Zuko barely resisted the urge to just shove him into the circle. “Meet back here in an hour,” Sokka whispered, his voice full of worry and reluctance. Zuko didn’t bother responding, instead choosing to pointedly turn from the Water Tribe boy and began roughly dispersing the prison crowd with the rest of the guards. He could feel Sokka’s eyes on him for a moment longer but he ignored the gaze.

They were here to get Sokka’s father, not for Sokka to babysit Zuko while they played dress up with guards’ uniforms. The sooner the Water Tribe boy got his head out of his ass and began doing the job, the sooner they could leave.

And the sooner Zuko could _properly_ lay into him for being such an absolute idiot.

* * *

Sokka could barely contain himself. Every inch of his body was itching to move faster, to run, to sprint to where he had told Zuko to meet him. He had expected this place to be terrible; it was Fire Nation and a prison; he knew it was going to be bad. But it was worse than even he had imagined it to be and the cooler was a room straight out of a nightmare. He had felt the biting chill even from outside as he had pushed that prison guy in. Opening the door had suddenly brought him back home, bracing himself against the winter galls as he carefully stalked out a nice ice-fishing spot. It had been enough to nearly make him shiver, underdressed for the cold as he was. It had to have been completely torturous for the firebender.

He didn’t even know the big guy he’d thrown in there and he still felt awful for leaving him in that room. When the warden had come, Sokka had barely been able to listen to his boasting – and since when had Chit Sang tried to escape anyway, all he had done was protect himself from a whip-flame and man, Sokka hated the Fire Nation – far too focused on the prisoner shivering in the depths of the tiny metal ice box. The entire walk back, as he pretended to listen to the disgustingly cheerful guard next to him, all he could think of was Zuko getting caught and ending up in that awful room. Of Zuko’s too thin body curling in on himself to protect from the icy room, of his pale skin pinkening and then reddening in the blistering cold, of his breath clouding the air around him as the fire in his blood deadened like banked embers.

It was an awful image and a painful reminder that, if the other boy ended up in there, it would be entirely Sokka’s fault for leading him to the Boiling Rock. Sokka needed to see Zuko, needed to know that the other boy hadn’t been found out, needed to be near him to make sure he wasn’t ever sent in there.

The other boy was almost an all-consuming thought in his head as he and the jerkiest of jerkbender – Zuko would be undoubtedly pleased that his title had finally been passed on – guards separated and it took a lot more concentration than it should have for Sokka to take careful stock of the prisoners passing by him. None of them were his father, a fact that sat heavier in his stomach with every passing prisoner. He couldn’t let himself think of the possibility that his father wasn’t here, that he was being held in a different prison or something far worse. There was no way he would be able to infiltrate another prison, even if Zuko would point him to another. He had to be here or Sokka had failed again and even worse, had brought Zuko into a dangerous situation for nothing.

He found himself on the upper tier overlooking the courtyard almost an hour after he’d left Zuko, staring at every single prisoner as they passed by below, trying desperately to catch sight of his father’s brown skin, or a flash of his blue eyes or even just a swish of the two blue beads he kept neatly tied in his twin braids, one for each of his children. Anything that would help him cling to the hope that he hadn’t failed again.

He was still staring down when another guard made their way towards him. Before he’d even had a moment to tense up, the figure was speaking. “Hey there, fellow guard,” there was a stiff awkwardness to the man’s voice that Sokka would recognize anywhere and he was turning even before he had finished speaking.

“Zuko!” Sokka said, warring to keep the relief out of his voice. Even if he hadn’t been able to find his father yet, at least Zuko was still safe.

Probably still furiously mad at him for whatever reason too, but Sokka would take angry-scary-yelling Zuko over the too-quiet-shivering visage that had been haunting him ever since he’d shoved that prisoner into the cooler and left him.

Sokka would have expected some angry hissing coming from the other boy – he hadn’t really meant to say his name out loud, at least not as loud as he had. Sound carried far amongst the metal balconies of the upper tier of the prison and it would be incredibly bad if anyone heard of a new guard with the former crown prince’s name. Sokka didn’t even know whether Zuko was a common or rare name amongst the Fire Nation and it was an astronomically bad time to find out. But Zuko didn’t hiss at him or bark at him to be quiet - he didn’t even pick up where their previous fight had left off with angry silent treatment or furious shouting. Instead, he seemed unsure, standing incredibly stiff besides Sokka and looking as though he was guilty of some terrible crime.

Sokka knew it was bad news before Zuko even opened his mouth and hearing it, hearing that the greatest fear that had plagued him since infiltrating this terrible, awful place was true, hearing that his father was not here, hearing that nobody at all from his tribe were here, was just about the worst thing to happen to Sokka in a good while.

It had all been for nothing.

He had left his sister and their friends behind with only a thin note, dictated to him by Zuko, for nothing.

He had nearly been boiled alive in a fiery lake in a metal death trap for nothing.

He had infiltrated one of the most dangerous places in the Fire Nation for nothing.

He had willfully endangered Zuko’s life for nothing.

He had utterly failed again and no words from Zuko - especially not the strange nonsensical words about clouds and silver sandwiches – were going to change that.

Sokka wanted to scream. He wanted to slam his fists against the metal wall behind him. Wanted to color the entire sky blue with the choicest swears he had learned from Toph. Wanted to curse the very ocean that had allowed this island to stand on top of it, the very ocean that had taken his father away in the first place all those years before.

He didn’t. He couldn’t. He couldn’t lose control in front of Zuko. Couldn’t rage and storm, no matter how much he wanted to. Because, even if he had failed his father, even if his mission was useless, worthless, he was still responsible for Zuko. He was responsible for making sure the other boy made it out okay, made it back to safety.

So Sokka didn’t pace around across the metal floor. He didn’t scream or slam his fists against the metal wall. He turned back to the courtyard below him and breathed deeply, steadyingly, willing silently for the tears of frustration stinging his eyes to draw back.

It was probably only this action that let him see her. Probably only this that stopped the dread filling his stomach like stones and allowed hope to take its place once more.

Sitting on a rock, dressed in a ragged prison uniform with a face scrubbed of all sacred war paint, was Suki.

Sweet, fearsome, badass Suki who Sokka had worried about ever since the treachery at Ba Sing Se had been uncovered.

Suki, who Sokka had once failed to protect.

Suki, who Sokka was going to rescue from this absolute hell.

So excited was he at seeing her – at seeing someone who Sokka could actually _help_ – that he didn’t even register that he was interrupting Zuko’s pitiful attempt at a proverb with a loud, happy cheer of “it’s Suki!” and hardly noticed how Zuko’s face seemed to fall into a mixture of confusion and disappointment as Sokka took off away from him, one hand outstretched behind him in a silent gesture for the other boy to follow.

Sokka couldn’t save his father, but at least he could save _someone_.

* * *

Zuko had not expected this turn of events when he had broken the news to Sokka. He had asked everyone who would speak to one of the ‘new guys’ where the war prisoners were and it had only been one bad response after another as each and every one of them denied the existence of Water Tribe prisoners at the Boiling Rock. His anger had faded away with every negative response – an impressive feat considering Zuko could hold onto his wrath better than his uncle held onto his tea – and had been replaced with a swirling nervous dread.

He didn’t want to be the one to tell the Water Tribe boy that his father wasn’t here – that, as far as any of the guards knew, there were no Water Tribe members in the entire prison – but he was the only one that could. And he couldn’t exactly hold onto his – entirely justified and well-reasoned – anger in the face of that.

He needed to be the calm one while Sokka raged. His anger could return later, once they had safely escaped.

He had fully expected Sokka to rage, to scream, maybe to hit something. He was hardly the type to keep his emotions bottled up – Zuko had more than once run out of his room thinking they were under attack only to be met with Sokka screaming because a bullfrog had made its way into his bedroll or because Toph had woken him with a rain of pebbles or some other minor infraction. Zuko had assumed, what with Katara also being shockingly open about her emotions on the daily, that the Water Tribes simply didn’t have the same beliefs that showing emotion was a weakness – one that Zuko himself had always had an abundance of – and he had expected a very large burst of emotion from Sokka at this news.

But, rather than loud, Sokka had gone incredibly quiet. Rather than a burst of violent movement, he had gone still. It had made Zuko nervous – he trusted Sokka to not physically attack him, more or less, but he had never had good luck with alphas who went suddenly very, very quiet. His father had always gone quiet when he was truly angry, after all and Uncle’s cold shoulder in prison, while not nearly as bad as what his own father had done, had been brutally painful.

So Zuko had started rambling, trying – and undoubtedly failing – at coming up with the same sort of reassurances Uncle had always given him. When Sokka had spontaneously brightened up, Zuko had thought his nonsense about silver sandwiches might have actually worked. But then Sokka had shouted out some random girl’s name and taken off running, gesturing behind himself for Zuko to follow and he had no choice but to follow the other boy.

Sokka hadn’t offered any more information until they were in the depths of the prison halls, in the middle of the women’s quarters and peering quickly into each of the small cells. “She has brown hair, about jaw length,” Sokka gestured towards his own head as he opened and quickly shut the slot of yet another prison door. It took Zuko a bit too long to realize that Sokka was inviting him to look with him but he made up for it quickly by slipping towards the next cell and looking in. “She’s pale, but not as pale as you,” Sokka continued as Zuko moved away from the cell – the woman in it had a long black braid – to the next. “Blue eyes, a couple inches shorter than you, very nice –“ Very nice what Zuko was spared hearing as Sokka’s voice gave way to a loud excited kind of squeal as he peered into the next cell. “That’s her!”

“I figured,” Zuko responded, quickly crossing the hall to stand next to Sokka. He peered into the room at Sokka’s insistence even though there wasn’t much of a point – he didn’t know who this Suki was and couldn’t confirm or deny that the girl inside was her. Especially since Sokka wasn’t exactly the best at describing people’s appearances. He really didn’t want to know how he would have described him. “So I’ll just – uh- stand guard while you go in and talk to her?” His words came out more a question than he’d meant them to as he glanced at the boy next to him. He was glad that they’d managed to at least find one person Sokka cared about that they could rescue but he hadn’t put much thought into what would happen after that. Surely the first step was getting into contact and Zuko knew that would be accomplished much smoother without him.

Especially since, although her name didn’t ring any bells for him, the pale face of the girl lying aimlessly on her threadbare mattress looked suspiciously familiar. The last thing any of them needed was for Zuko and this Earth Kingdom girl to have a past.

Sokka apparently didn’t agree. “We’re both going in.” He told the other boy, confusion marring the excited expression on his face.

Zuko tried to hold onto the sympathy he’d felt for Sokka when they found out his father wasn’t at the Boiling Rock to combat the sudden spike of irritation flaring in his stomach. Sokka didn’t have much experience breaking into heavily fortified complexes undetected – he refused to count the invasion on the Day of Black Sun because _everybody_ in the Fire Nation had known about it and they were heavily winging the plan now, it was understandable that the Water Tribe boy would make some bad calls.

It definitely had to be just a bad call. Zuko wouldn’t entertain the idea, creeping up in the back of his mind despite himself, that Sokka didn’t think him capable of even standing guard outside a door. He wasn’t that stupid.

“It’s better if you just go in. Someone’s going to have to give a signal in case an actual guard comes around and I don’t know her.” Zuko argued, stamping down the flare of irritation before it could burst into actual anger. He was speaking logically, tactically. Sokka was the logic guy, supposedly, so he would have to agree.

Apparently not. “It’ll look too suspicious for there to just be a guard out here watching one cell!” Sokka argued back. “And besides, if we start planning, you’re going to have to know about it!”

Zuko held back his initial retort – that, judging from Sokka’s excitement at spotting the girl, not much planning would be going on in their reunion – and resisted the urge to cross his arms as he stared at the other boy and responded with just a hint of annoyance in his voice, “and how do you think it’ll look when two guards – one of which is an _alpha_ – are found with a lone prisoner in her _cell_?”

Zuko had a lot of experience in training himself not to be annoyed by the lack of common sense amongst alphas but he still had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes as the implication of his words dawned on Sokka’s face. Of course, out of all the things about orientations that could have been cross-cultural, it had to be the privilege alphas had to not consider or outright ignore basic personal safety measures. His sister had been terrible about it and it only made a perverse kind of sense for Sokka to be the same.

Sokka looked appropriately disturbed at Zuko’s words and it took him a moment of consideration before he responded, voice a little more unsure than it had been before, “I see your point, but you shouldn’t be alone either. You can keep watch inside the cell while I tell Suki what’s going on.”

Zuko’s tenuous hold on his temper snapped and he reacted without thinking. With a growl of irritation, he slid the door of the Earth Kingdom girl’s cell open – whoever thought installing doors that could open on the outside without keys in a high-security prison must have been _nearly_ as much of an idiot as the Water Tribe boy – and shoved Sokka inside. He was slamming the door shut again before Sokka had even fully turned around, a look of outraged betrayal on his face. 

“I will keep watch out here like a _normal guard.”_ Zuko hissed through the still-opened slot. “I’ll knock if someone comes.” Before Sokka could argue, Zuko slammed the slot closed as well and turned to watch down the empty hallway.

He pointedly ignored the muffled curse and crash of flesh against metal that came from behind him.

Stupid, confusing alphas no longer had a say in planning prison breaks. Stupid, confusing alphas get locked into cells with friendly prisoners instead.

* * *

Sokka slammed his fist against the metal door with a curse that would have had Gran-Gran washing his mouth out with the worst lump of Katara’s whale-walrus soap. He knew Zuko didn’t exactly appreciate him trying to protect him but throwing him into a prison cell was an incredibly low blow, even for the former Crown Prince of the Fire Nation. What would Sokka do if someone came and discovered Zuko alone outside the cell? He couldn’t even get himself out to help and whatever Zuko said about it looking suspicious if two guards were found in a prisoner’s cell, it was certainly just as bad to have one guard outside and another inside and –

Sokka’s internal complaints were put on a sudden hold when a loud pointed cough echoed off the metal walls around him. He turned quickly to face the girl in the room, shoving aside all thoughts about how he was going to so yell at Zuko for this later in favor of her. 

He had totally forgotten about Suki but she had certainly not forgotten about him. She had risen from her worn mattress, a tense figure of restrained disdain as she stared up at him, her hands curled into fists at her side and her body shifting into a defensive position.

“What are you doing here?” She asked, her voice nearly as tense as her body. Zuko’s words about guards alone with prisoners came back to Sokka’s mind, unbidden, and he barely restrained a shiver. He knew, of course, what types of things bad people were capable of but the idea of anything like that happening here, happening to Suki, was horrendous. The fact that he hadn’t even considered it until Zuko had thrown it into his face was nearly as bad and he was careful to keep as much distance between him and Suki as possible in the tiny cell as he reached up to pull off his guards’ helmet.

Suki’s reaction was nearly instantaneous. Her face brightened and she took a running leap towards him crying out, “Sokka! It’s you!” before jumping on him and enveloping him in a tight hug. Her scent – wild plum blossom mixed with the smell of sun-scorched summer soil – hung all around her as though it too was excited by his presence. Sokka let himself be lost in it for a moment, although careful not to actually scent her – one of his first lessons on Kyoshi had been how the girls handled people scenting them without explicit permission and while Sokka was fairly certain Suki wouldn’t actually take the time to break every single knuckle in his hand he really didn’t want to test that theory. It was as pleasant as ever although much fainter than he had ever remembered it being.

Or perhaps he had just become too used to traveling with Zuko and being surrounded by his strong, sweet scent.

That was a bad thought. Sokka refused to think about that absolute traitor and his stupidly pretty scent. He was still mad and thinking about how nice fire lilies smelled was not a great way to express that.

And in general, Sokka did not think it was good protocol to be thinking about one person while holding another. His father had given him several vague lessons about that while they had been out on one of their father-son fishing trips before he had left for the war.

It was time to focus on Suki, not Zuko.

“What are you doing here? Why were you thrown in here? Did you get caught?” Suki began firing off questions as she pulled away from him, confusion now mixing with the elation still clear on her face.

Sokka was just as quick to answer. “We’re breaking you out. And no, I didn’t get caught.” He carefully passed over her second question. Zuko was already going to be hard enough to explain without going into the fact that they were locked in some odd sort-of-fight. Suki was a beta, so she might understand where Sokka was coming from, but he pretty sure that Zuko would throw him into his own cell if he told Suki he was an omega without express permission. “Are any of the other warriors here?” He asked, tactfully changing the subject before he accidently said anything about Zuko.

Suki’s face fell slightly. “No, I don’t know where they are. They locked me in here because I’m the leader.” Sokka hated to see the worry in her eyes. He hated that, had he taken the time to check on the so-called Kyoshi Warriors back in Ba Sing Se, Suki might never had ended up in the Boiling Rock, might never have been separated from her sisters-in-arms.

“You won’t be here much longer. We’re going to get you out,” he promised, pushing away the guilt threatening to suffocate him and trying for a confident smile. Suki smiled back and gently cupped one of his hands.

“Who –“ she began, undoubtedly about to ask who Sokka was working with. Before she could finish the question and well before Sokka could even begin to come up with a way to explain how the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation had ended up betraying his own father and was helping stage a prison break, a loud knock came against the door.

Sokka pulled his hand away from Suki’s immediately, turning back to the door. That could only have been Zuko. He raced to the door and tried the handle. It was still locked of course and he let out a quiet curse as reached up to try and push against the slot in the door. The security at the Boiling Rock really did not live up to its name – or perhaps Zuko hadn’t closed it all the way when he had finished yelling at him – because he was able to slide it open with his fingers. He stood on the tips of his toes to try and see out of it.

He could just make out Zuko’s form. He was still standing prone by the door, back straight with his hands expertly cupped behind his back. Sokka wanted to hiss at him to open the door – if someone was coming Zuko needed back up – but before he could, an unfamiliar voice rang out in the hall and he ducked down away from the slot. Silently, Suki dropped down beside him.

“Excuse me, I need to get into that cell.” The voice was feminine, calm and almost polite. Sokka hated to admit it but Zuko had been right; it was less weird for there to be one guard outside the door than if they had both been found inside. As long as the other boy responded well and calmly, they might be able to make their way out of this.

“No, you can’t go in there!” Or he could respond with borderline panic and give them all away. Sokka cursed quietly and creatively and the rest of Zuko’s words were lost in the stream of expletives. What wasn’t lost was the loud slam of a body against the metal door and Sokka’s brain short-circuited. Had that been Zuko against the cell? Was he being attacked while Sokka sat uselessly in this cell?

He took back thinking Zuko had been right. He never should have let the other boy out of his sight, not even for a moment.

He never would again, once he got out of this tiny room.

A second slam, louder than the first, reverberated against the door and Sokka turned in time to see the cell door slide open half an inch. The second slam must have been Zuko and Sokka felt his heart drop to his stomach even as he quickly slid his helmet back on and slipped his hand into the crack in the door. He couldn’t believe that he had allowed this to happen, had allowed Zuko to get hurt even after promising himself he wouldn’t.

With only a quick glance at Suki – who was still crouched on the floor a question clear in her eyes – Sokka opened the door just enough to slide himself out, pushing his back hard against the door to take up as little space as possible.

Zuko had managed to push himself against the door and was struggling loudly with the guard who had tried to come into the room. Sokka wanted to jump in immediately, wanted to rip the woman away from Zuko, wanted to check and double check that Zuko wasn’t terribly hurt – he knew the boy had been through worse but it still couldn’t have been pleasant to be slammed so viciously against a metal door – but he fought back the instinctual urge to protect the omega. If he were seen coming from Suki’s cell, the entire operation would be over.

If he managed to make it to the corner and turned back, however, no one would be able to trace where he had been. He could claim that he had come up on the altercation during rounds and with two against one, he and Zuko would have a good chance at convincing other guards that the woman was the imposter, or at least the one who had instigated the fighting. All he had to do was make his way to the corner and turn back; _then_ he could rip that woman off of Zuko and make sure he was alright.

He just needed to get to the corner. It’d be easy in all the commotion Zuko and the other guard was making.

At least, it _should_ have been easy. Except nothing was ever easy in his life and right before he could turn past the corner, the woman Zuko was fighting with spotted him.

“Guard, help!” She cried and Sokka cringed at the volume of her voice. Even if he didn’t respond, some other guard was sure to have heard her. They only had a few moments before a whole group would come barreling into the hallway. “I think he’s an imposter! Arrest him!” The guard continued screaming as Sokka turned around. Why couldn’t Zuko have put a hand over her mouth? Or even just knocked her out? He could understand not wanting to really hurt her, but he knew Zuko was strong enough that it wouldn’t take much effort on his part to render the woman temporarily unconscious.

Sokka stood frozen for a moment, watching the pair still struggle. He could pull Zuko away, open the door to Suki’s cell and take off running but they wouldn’t get too far. They didn’t even have a plan yet.

But the other option, to turn on Zuko and arrest him as the woman said, was equally impossible. Sokka couldn’t put his hands on the other boy and he certainly couldn’t leave him at the mercy of the Boiling Rock, even for just a moment. He just couldn’t.

Zuko, however, had no such qualms. He must have known Sokka wasn’t going to do anything against him, was going to waste their only chance by revealing himself as part of the break in – or perhaps he was still incredibly furious and just wanted the chance to get his hands on Sokka before he was taken in by other guards – for he dropped his hold against the woman and, before either she or Sokka could react, lunged at him.

It was a convincing show of trying to flee – the guardswoman was still trying to get her bearing after the sudden assault and to her eye it must have looked like the imposter guard was taking his chances with the new guy while he was still in shock – and if Sokka hadn’t known better he would have thought he was in serious trouble as Zuko slammed into him. He fully used the momentum of his dash to send Sokka’s larger body hard into the metal wall- which _oww,_ he was definitely bruised from their crash landing and that did not make anything better, Katara really was going to kill him when they got back – and a part of Sokka, the very tiny part of him that still remembered Zuko as the Fire Nation prince who had chased him across the world, screamed that he was in danger.

But Zuko’s hands weren’t burning as they pressed into Sokka’s chest and his voice was low – it probably sounded like he was hissing threats to the other guard but Sokka could hear the carefully non-threatening tone much clearer than she – as he whispered, “you need to arrest me!”

Sokka knew that was true, knew that his only chance at maintaining his cover lay in arresting Zuko, knew that Suki’s – and now even Zuko’s – freedom lay in arresting Zuko.

But still, pressed against the wall with Zuko’s fists bunched into his uniform in a very convincing display of menace, Sokka hesitated.

His father had taught him all about how to be an alpha. All the good and the bad. He had taught Sokka that, out of all the things an alpha could do to shame themselves, some of the worst was putting a hand on an omega, a beta woman, or a child. Sokka knew Zuko could handle it, knew that he had put his hands on Zuko more than a few times, knew Zuko gave better than he got; he even knew that his father would understand, given the situation. Knew that this was way different than any situation his father had been meaning to teach him about.

But still, he hesitated.

He could see, through the thin slit of Zuko’s helmet, the way his good eye narrowed. Could see the anger in the thin line of his mouth, feel it in the way his fists tightened their grip on his uniform, but still Sokka stood motionless, hesitating.

He needed to move; he knew he needed to move. Even obscured, Sokka knew Zuko’s angry face and the longer he wasted time the angrier the other boy was sure to become.

Bust still, he was frozen.

Zuko’s fists pressed hard against Sokka’s chest, slamming him again into the wall. Not enough to really damage him but enough to make a convincing crash against the wall and send the bruises up and down his back screaming. “Arrest me!” He hissed again, this time his voice absolutely coated in venom. Sokka gave a small, hopefully imperceptible nod – he had no choice, his father would understand, it was what Zuko wanted, he wasn’t doing anything wrong, he needed to do it to save Suki and Zuko –

He was going to do it, he really was. But before he could so much as lift his arms up to push Zuko off of him in a show of breaking out of his grip, other people were crowding the hallway and a very large guardsman was swiftly pulling Zuko off of Sokka. He made quick work of bending Zuko’s arms back almost to the point of dislocation and Sokka had to dig his fingers into the meat of his palm to keep himself from reacting as Zuko let out a soft grunt of pain at the rough handling.

“You have to learn not to freeze, new guy,” one of the other guards, a woman from the sound of her voice although not the one Zuko had attacked, spoke brusquely from somewhere to his right. Sokka knew he should look at her or at least acknowledge that she spoke but his eyes were locked onto Zuko.

Zuko, who wouldn’t be arrested if he had just come into the room with him.

Zuko, who would have been handled a lot more gently had Sokka just done what he was supposed to do.

Zuko, who was probably rightfully furious because when he needed Sokka, Sokka had failed him.

Zuko, who was one of the most wanted people in the entirety of the Fire Nation, right after his Uncle and the Avatar.

Zuko, who was about to be dragged into the depths of a literal hell on earth.

Zuko, who Sokka had failed.

He would help the boy escape, he wouldn’t leave him to rot in this prison, but that didn’t make the awful feeling in his stomach go away as the massive guard cuffed Zuko and began shoving him down the hall.

He felt like he was going to be sick, watching Zuko move away from him. The other boy, nearly the same height as Sokka although much leaner, looked positively tiny flanked by the small crowd of guards who had been summoned by the scuffle. 

How could he be so stupid that he’d let this happen?

How was he going to get Zuko out of this?

Sokka didn’t have any answers, yet, and it was with a heavy heart and a roiling stomach that he watched the other boy disappear entirely around the corner.

Yet another failure for him, then. Sokka was going to have to start writing them down to remember them all.

* * *

Zuko didn’t even have to fake his anger as he put up a nominal struggle against the two guards manhandling him into a prison cell. He couldn’t believe he had gotten himself in this situation, at the mercy of some of the worst people in the Fire Nation, all because he had wanted to help some stupid Water Tribe boy not get killed. The stupid Water Tribe boy’s stupid father wasn’t even at the stupid prison and as much as the stupid boy seemed to like his stupid girlfriend, Zuko did not particularly want to rot in a stupid prison cell for her.

All the pity he’d felt for Sokka had drained away in their scuffle and the anger was back full force. Zuko hadn’t even hesitated before attacking that guard and blowing his cover in the hope that Sokka could make it out of that cell and the idiot had nearly blown it all by not fighting back when Zuko had attacked him. It wouldn’t have even been the first time the Water Tribe boy had struck Zuko and it wasn’t like the other boy was so overwhelmingly strong he risked actually hurting Zuko. Azula had done more damage when she was seven than Sokka had ever come close to when they were on opposite sides of the war.

Zuko should have taken his chance to punch the idiot in the face before he got himself arrested. It probably would have made him feel better as he stood in the center of a tiny, completely bare prison cell.

Somewhere, somehow, Azula’s little sister sense was going off and she was laughing at him. He just knew it.

“Take off the uniform! Let’s get a good look at ya!” One of his new captors, the large one who had pulled him off Sokka before he could give into the urge to punch the other boy, was leering at him from the still open doorway of the cell. Zuko had struggled all the way down the hallway even though he had no real intent to escape – not yet, at least because no matter how annoyed he was with Sokka there was no chance he would try escaping without the stupid boy or the other prisoner – and he was almost cheered at the sight of the man’s quickly swelling lip. Zuko had jabbed him good with his elbow and the lip had split against the man’s front teeth rather spectacularly. “Now!” The man barked, his voice loud and angry as he folded his arms across his chest.

Zuko, despite what his uncle or anyone else who knew him would say, knew when to pick his battles and as much as he would have liked to expend some of his anger on making sure the man’s nose matched his lip, knew that further antagonizing the guards was a very good way to make his situation far worse than it already was. So, with very reluctant hands – there was no way these people weren’t about to recognize him, his luck was nowhere near that level – he reached up and slowly slid the uniform helmet off of his face.

The reaction was immediate. The big guard actually took a step back in surprise and Zuko heard at least one quickly muffled gasp from one of the guards still in the hallway as his face came into full view.

“Get the warden!” The massive guard was the first to get over his shock and Zuko heard one of the guards outside his cell turn and follow his command, the pounding of his footsteps fading away quickly as he dashed to the warden. Zuko made sure to keep his breathing even as he let the helmet fall from his grip and clang loudly and disrespectfully against the metal floor. He made no move to take off any of the rest of his stolen uniform as he glared openly at the massive man in the doorway.

The urge to push past the guard and flee – how stupid was this guard to keep the door of the cell wide open like that, did he truly think himself or any of the guards behind him enough to force Zuko to stay inside if he chose to leave? Zuko wasn’t powerful like Azula or Uncle or his father but he could still easily send this man running for cover if he wanted – was almost overwhelming but Zuko merely grit his teeth and planted his feet. Sokka was an idiot but Zuko still couldn’t risk the other boy’s cover in an under-planned escape attempt. One of them needed to use their head.

The guard didn’t seem to appreciate the defiant air in Zuko’s eyes. With a loud, disgusting squelch, the man cleared his throat and spit into Zuko’s cell, close to his feet. Zuko didn’t give him the satisfaction of looking down but he could see out of the corner of his good eye, that there was a pinkish-red tint to the mess on the floor. It was gratifying to know Zuko’s hand-to-hand skills hadn’t faded much since he was able to firebend openly again.

They would come in handy when he was free again and able to beat some sense into Sokka’s dumb alpha ass.

A uniform, tattered and threadbare, landed on top of the spit. One of the guards must have passed it to the massive one when Zuko and him were staring each other down. “Get out of that uniform,” the guard barked at him again, an angry growl now replacing the smug authority. For a brief moment, Zuko considered refusing out of spite, but he knew what the alternative to doing it himself was and the idea of the guard’s rough hands stripping him out of the uniform was a revolting one and he found himself bending down to pick up the prison uniform.

One of the pants legs was wet from where it had landed and Zuko didn’t bother hiding his disgust as he threw the whole mess onto the floor once more. He wanted to turn around as he undressed, the prying eyes of the guard were piercing as they stared him down, but the idea of turning his back to any enemy was even worse than the taunting voice at the back of his head telling him only whores undressed when people were watching so he settled for stripping off the armored shoulder pads and half taking off the shirt before putting the new shirt on over it. It was tricky getting the rest of the old shirt off underneath the new but he managed to do it without showing much skin. There was no way to get around the pants and Zuko switched them as quickly as he could before wadding up the guard costume and throwing it as viciously as he could back at his unwanted audience.

At the very least, the guard hadn’t searched him. Zuko didn’t know whether it was some remaining ounce of respect for his royal blood – to touch a member of the royal family without permission was tantamount to treason in his father’s palace – or if, because the Fire Nation typically thought it beneath benders to learn how to use weapons, they had simply assumed he wasn’t carrying anything dangerous but he wasn’t about to question it. He knew he wasn’t going to come out of this cell unscathed, but the least amount of rough handling or outright beatings was preferable.

The massive guard picked up the uniform Zuko had thrown at his feet and with a final glare, backed out of the room and slammed the cell door shut. Zuko knew he was probably still watching from the hallway and he was careful to keep his emotions as tight as possible as he leaned himself against the wall and folded his arms across his chest. He wanted nothing more than to rage or yell, but that would just be an invitation for the guards to label him unruly.

For perhaps the first time, he had an inkling of how Uncle must have felt, trapped in a tiny cell so close and yet so far from his home. Except, Zuko had known what he was risking when he attacked that guard, knew that he would end up in one of these cells and that he had someone on the outside who would be looking out for him. His uncle had no one and he had been thrown into jail because Zuko had betrayed him.

Just yet another thing Zuko would have to apologize for if given the chance.

He didn’t know how long he sat in that dim cell alone. Long enough for the guard to change at least once – Zuko could hear footsteps and the shifting of people as the massive guard left and another took his place. The new guard didn’t say anything to Zuko and if the big guard had told them anything about who they were watching, Zuko didn’t catch it. Long enough for there to be a roll call and the sounds of prisoners getting food – none came for Zuko but that was hardly a surprise. Withholding food was one of the most basic tactics the Fire Nation employed against their enemies and Zuko knew the warden would want him as compliant as possible.

He wondered if Sokka had managed to find him yet or if his whereabouts was being kept quiet until the warden came for him – there would be no doubt that they would, Zuko being such a high-profile criminal and having infiltrated the prison. He rather thought it was the latter and was actually grateful for it – who knew what idiotic thing Sokka would do if he found him. He’d probably end up ruining the whole operation within five minutes of seeing Zuko.

It was far better, really, if Zuko found him first. Less chance of Sokka overreacting if they saw each other in the prison yard or cafeteria than on the other side of a cell.

Footsteps were echoing off the steel floor once more – one person was heading down the hallway towards his cell, far sooner than the last change of the guard. Zuko forced himself not to tense up as the door to his cell slid open with a loud crash.

“Well, if it isn’t the traitor guard?” A loud male voice echoed throughout the tiny cell, angry and abrasive in its mockery. Zuko forced himself to keep his head down, taking long, deep breaths to keep his temper in check. It wouldn’t do to lose his temper now. “Why don’t you go to the mess hall?” The voice was talking to the guard outside his cell now, some of the anger gone but still unbearably loud. “I just want a few moments alone, if you know what I mean.” Zuko couldn’t stop himself from tensing at that. What he wouldn’t give to be able to punch the man in his smug-sounding face.

The guard outside his cell laughed a little, a cruel jeering sound, and then said a few things that Zuko couldn’t quite catch. From the tone of their voice, he knew it was hardly complimentary.

“Yeah, just a few minutes. I got a message that really needs to sink in!” The voice in his cell was speaking again and Zuko heard the dull thud of a fist smacking into an open hand following his words. There was no way the guard was actually going to leave, there was no way they had left such a stupid person behind to guard his cell.

There was another laugh, louder and crueler than the last, and then footsteps, quickly fading away from him and the sound of a cell door sliding closed.

Zuko didn’t even dare breath. If this was truly the most secure prison in all of the Fire Nation, he didn’t understand why there were any prisoners left in the entirety of the country, unless all the prisoners were, combined, even stupider than the guards.

He didn’t waste a second. The moment the door had slid shut completely, locking the new guard in with him, he lunged from the wall.

“Woah, woah! Zuko, it’s me!” Sokka cried out as Zuko slammed him into the wall, throwing up one of his forearms to press against his neck as Sokka scrambled to remove his helmet and reveal his face.

“I know that, you idiot!” Zuko hissed, checking the slot behind Sokka’s shoulder to make sure the guard really was gone. He couldn’t see anybody in the hallway but still he didn’t loosen his hold. Who knew what ways the warden had to listen in on the prisoners and he couldn’t believe Sokka was so stupid to have come here without even considering that _._

“Are you, uh, gonna let me go, buddy?” Sokka’s voice was tense, his arms raised up in surrender, helmet firmly held in one hand. Zuko scowled at him for a moment and considered if slamming the other boy into the wall once more for good measure would be worth Katara absolutely murdering him. As tempting as it was, Zuko really didn’t want to die quite yet and so it was with great reluctance that he stepped back from the Water Tribe boy and dropped the arm he’d held against his throat.

Sokka dropped his own hands too, making no move to step away from the wall, and offered Zuko an awkward, unsure smile. Zuko’s glare only darkened.

“What are you _doing_ here?” He hissed. Sokka’s smile dropped a little, his expression turning rueful as he raised his free hand to rub against the back of his neck.

“I – uh – wanted to make sure you were alright. It looked like they were handling you a little roughly.” Zuko stared at the boy, his anger momentarily giving way to sheer disbelief. This was a _prison_. Did Sokka expect them to treat him with dainty hands and gentle words? Even if the Fire Nation treated omegas like that, they wouldn’t deem any traitor worth softer treatment. Not to mention, Zuko had a firm hold on his scent and no one even _knew_ he was an omega.

Except for this idiot in front of him.

Zuko had often felt betrayed by his own biology, stuck in private omega classes in the palace while Azula got to go to the Royal Academy, but never had he felt it quite so keenly as when he was dealing with the Avatar’s friends. No one had treated him weirdly until he’d had his stupid heat and now, he couldn’t get most of them to treat him normally again.

He had meant to deal with this after they were out of immediate danger of being thrown into the depths of this prison for the rest of their – probably short – lives but it was becoming increasingly more obvious that Sokka’s doubts about his abilities needed to be addressed sooner rather than later. Zuko was prepared to die at any moment but dying because some nonbending Water Tribe boy thought him inferior because of his orientation was not how it was going to happen.

He folded his arms across his chest as he pulled himself to full height and glared at the other boy. “I can handle _myself_. Besides, they aren’t going to hurt me too badly before the warden can get his shot in.”

Zuko hadn’t meant the words to be reassuring by any means but he also hadn’t expected the way they made Sokka flinch away from him. “I know you can, but I can still worry, you know?” Sokka was trying to emulate his usual nonchalant tone but his voice was several octaves too high and his gaze didn’t quite meet Zuko’s.

Zuko had tried very hard to play the patient game but he was not a tactful person and Sokka had cut through every single one of his threads of patience. He was absolutely done skirting around the issue at hand and his scowl deepened as he told the other boy, “no you can’t. Because I can handle myself just fine and if you don’t start believing that you might as well leave me in this cell and just rescue your girlfriend.”

Sokka’s whole body flinched at Zuko’s words. “I’m not going to leave you here!” He was almost yelling the moment he had recovered, flapping his arms around for emphasis. “And I know you can handle yourself, it’s just –“ and then he paused again, his voice trailing off into an uncomfortably familiar silence. The “poor omega Zuko can’t handle this so I better keep quiet so as not to make him emotional” silence.

Zuko _hated_ that silence. His scowl deepened as he slashed through it with bladed words, “Just _what_?” His voice was too loud, too close to yelling but he was heedless to it. Nothing existed in him but the blind, burning rage that Sokka’s actions sparked in him. He was tired of being thought useless, inferior, _weak_ just because of his orientation.

The room was almost boiling around them, humid and crackling, as though the air itself was about to burst into flames. Neither boy seemed to notice.

“Just _what_ , Sokka? Just that I’m weaker than you, just that I’m some gentle little thing that needs a big alpha to protect him? Just that I shouldn’t be here, I should be at home in the palace planning my spiritsforsaken wedding while my father plans on burning the whole world to the spiritsdamned ground?” He was really yelling now. Uncle had always warned the crew on their old ship to never let Zuko hit his stride or the tirade would never end – he had thought Zuko hadn’t heard him gossiping amongst the crew, teaching them little tiny ways to mutiny against their angry barely pubescent captain but Zuko always had – but no one had warned Sokka and now Zuko couldn’t stop himself. The words just kept flying out, one fiery dagger after another.

“Just that omegas are too weak, too emotional?” Azula had always flung that at him. She used to prod and goad until Zuko was flailing and yelling and then she’d laugh and tell him he was behaving like a most unseemly omega, letting his naturally high emotions get the better of him. It had never failed to send him spiraling even further and it was exactly the same in this cell. He was spiraling further and further, undoubtedly feeding directly into every grandiose misconception Sokka had of omegas and that only made him angrier, both at himself and at Sokka, and still he couldn’t stop. “Just that I can’t handle this? Just that –“

But Sokka had finally had enough. “Stop! Stop, okay!” He was flailing his arms again as he cut into Zuko’s rant with an equally loud voice. It was a wonder the Southern Water Tribe had any hearing left, between Katara and Sokka’s lung capacities. “Stop talking about yourself like that, I don’t think any of that!” He continued, his face pained. His voice was lower, now that he didn’t have to shout over Zuko, but it still echoed loudly in the suddenly too quiet cell. “It’s not any of that. Spirits, Zuko, _of course_ it isn’t.” His voice was even quieter as he spoke, a strange kind of sadness mixed in; yet another odd addition Zuko simply didn’t understand.

“Then _what_ is it?” He snarled; his voice closer to a normal volume as he folded his arms over his chest once more.

Sokka looked pained as he tried to bring together his words. “I don’t think you’re weak.” He repeated, a pointless, nonsense lie Zuko wasn’t about to believe for anything. “I really don’t. It’s just –“ but his words failed him again and he let out a frustrated huff and began pacing the tiny cell. “Look, back home – omegas just don’t fight, okay? And it’s not because they are too weak!” He was quick to add and Zuko angrily snapped his mouth back closed, more venomous words on the tip of his tongue. “My Gran-Gran is one of the strongest people I know and so was my mother. They just don’t _fight_. That’s the alphas’ job. Alphas and beta men fight and omegas and beta girls do other stuff like raise the children and keep the village going and –“

“So you actually do think I belong at home planning my wedding,” Zuko interrupted, his voice cold. He had expected it but still, hearing it from the other boy plain as day was so much worse than he’d even imagined it would be.

“ _No!”_ Sokka answered immediately, sounding vaguely horrified. “No, of course not because that’s not what _you_ want. It has nothing to do with where _I_ think you belong. If you want to fight, that’s great and cool, but you shouldn’t _have_ to. It was your dad’s job to protect you and he didn’t and I don’t know why he sent you out basically on your own but I’m sure it’s because he’s literally the spawn of pure evil but he did and then you were basically on your own and you probably almost died a thousand times – I know you almost died at the North Pole and then against Combustion Man – and then you came to us so now it’s _my_ job to protect you because I’m the eldest alpha in the group and that’s just how it works where I’m from and I don’t know how to do it any differently!”

Silence followed Sokka’s proclamation. Zuko wasn’t sure how to respond – he was still angry, he still thought Sokka was spouting some alpha nonsense but there was no denying the hurt, conflicted look on the other boy’s face. Zuko didn’t think he was hurting him on purpose and he could see that Sokka really was struggling with all of it. He could feel some of his anger ebbing away, could feel the burning fire inside him banking slightly, cooling down from the blazing inferno it had been.

“If you get hurt, that’s on me because it’s my job to keep you safe.” Sokka was continuing; he had stopped moving again and was standing in front of Zuko, closer than he had been before, his face solemn and earnest. “I’m not acting like this because I think omegas are bad or inferior or whatever, I’m acting like this because that’s how alphas are _supposed_ to act and if I don’t protect you and you get hurt, it’s not because you’re a bad omega but because _I’m_ a bad alpha.” Inexplicably, Sokka’s words about his old girlfriend came back to Zuko’s mind as Sokka finished speaking, his voice almost soft and tinged by some unknown sadness he couldn’t place. Sokka must have thought he had failed her, this Yue who had become the moon, and he must have thought he had failed Suki too. Zuko already knew he thought he had failed his father. He may not have understood all the alpha nonsense, but he did understand, quite keenly, what it felt like to fail over and over again at one’s duties.

He was still angry and Sokka was still an idiot. But at the very least, he was an idiot finally talking to Zuko about why he was an idiot. Zuko could work with strange Water Tribe preconceptions.

But first, it was only fair that Sokka learn where Zuko was coming from.

“In the Fire Nation,” Zuko began, his voice rough and quiet – now that his anger had abated some, he was mindful once more that they were in a prison and Sokka still had a cover to maintain – as he spoke, “everyone is expected to know how to fight or at least defend themselves. Omegas aren’t expected to join the war – they can if they want, but it’s not considered a necessity – but they are still supposed to know how to defend themselves. They aren’t supposed to rely on anyone else for safety, once they are old enough to protect themselves and an alpha is more likely to be considered a failure if they don’t teach their children how to take care of themselves than if they don’t protect them. It’s the omega’s fault, anyway, if they put themselves in a situation where they get hurt. My father is a bad person because he does horrible things but leaving me to take care of myself with my uncle next to me wasn’t ever one of them.” Zuko didn’t think he was really explaining it all well – Sokka’s face hadn’t cleared any and it had darkened considerably when Zuko had defended his father. He tried a new angle.

“Look, I chose to fight long before I even presented. I always knew that as a member of the royal family, I would fight on my country’s behalf. When I found out I was an omega, I still chose to fight. I’m not the best or the most skilled, but I’m capable and it’s because I chose to be. I could have stopped, when I presented, and gone down a path I’m sure would be more acceptable in your culture, but I didn’t want to.” That was technically true – Zuko hadn’t wanted to switch to more omega-oriented studies like diplomacy and administrative matters but his father probably wouldn’t have allowed him to either. As part of the royal family, it would have been shameful for him not to take the field in battle, omega or not, but he didn’t think Sokka needed to know that specifically.

“I wanted to fight, and that’s still what I choose to do. And I need you to understand that I can handle myself and I don’t need you trying to protect me out of some odd sense of duty. I need you to have my back, but I also need you to trust that I’m fully capable. We are never going to get out of here if you don’t let me pull my own weight.” That, at least, seemed to connect with Sokka. The boy still looked unhappy but he nodded.

“I know, I know. I worry, but that’s not fair to you. I never meant to make you feel lesser or anything and I’ll try to – to not be so overprotective from now on.” Sokka looked pained as he admitted that and Zuko knew not everything was resolved. But still, it was a victory for him and he would take what he could. He would worry about the other strange behavior – like the weird insistence of always giving him extra food that Katara and him both did – another time.

There was so much more to talk about, now that Zuko wasn’t brimming with the desire to do bodily harm against the Water Tribe boy. Their escape plan was still practically nonexistent and the substitution of Suki for Sokka’s father presented small but still noticeable challenges. An entirely different set of guards were generally in charge of the non-alphas and the women were held on a different wing of the prison than the men. They needed to start planning as soon as possible but before either could say anything about it, footsteps were clanging down the metal hallway.

It was honestly a miracle that not a single guard had heard their screaming but it was clear that their luck had completely run out.

“Pretend to hit me!” Zuko hissed, grabbing one of Sokka’s hands and gesturing towards his own stomach. Sokka hesitated for a moment, his frown deepening and Zuko hissed, “Sokka!”

“Right, yes, fake punching!” Sokka snapped himself out of it and obediently curled his hand into a fist. He had pushed it – far gentler than necessary but at least he actually _did_ it this time – into Zuko’s stomach just in time for the door to crash open.

It was the guard from earlier, looking far more harried than Zuko thought was warranted. “The warden’s coming! Your time with the prisoner is up!” The man said quickly, darting one glance over his shoulder. Undoubtedly, the warden probably wouldn’t have appreciated finding out that he had left the traitor prince unguarded and he was keen to cover his tracks.

“Of course. Just one more for luck!” Sokka called back out, offering a grin at the guard over his shoulder before turning back and leaning in close to Zuko. “Be in the yard in one hour, we’ll meet with Suki there,” he murmured, the words surprisingly warm against Zuko’s ear, as he gave another convincing fake punch to Zuko’s abdomen. He backed up quickly after that and with a single nod to the other guard, he disappeared out of the room. The other guard was shutting the door the moment Sokka had slid out and just like that, Zuko was alone once more.

He hardly had a moment to quickly resume his position against the wall with his arms folded on top of his chest and his eyes glaring at the rusting floor before it was sliding open once more.

“Well, well, well,” a man’s voice, deep and calm, drawled out and Zuko looked up to see his new tormenter. It was a short man in a full uniform, the gold and red headband of the warden wrapped across his forehead. An almost overpowering stench of sun-scorched sand and sea salt followed him as he walked into the room and Zuko resisted wrinkling his nose as he looked up at the approaching alpha.

If the warden had come before Sokka, had come when Zuko was still seething with anger, their encounter might have gone a lot more differently. As it was, Zuko merely gritted his teeth as the warden stood gloating in front of him. Of course the man knew who he was – he was undoubtedly high-ranking, even if Zuko didn’t quite recognize him and almost all the nobility had been present to see Zuko earn his mark of shame. And of course he didn’t bother answering Zuko’s question on why he didn’t just inform his father where he was – Zuko was just a lowly prisoner here, no one had to answer anything he asked.

He didn’t know whether the man’s family was high enough to know Zuko’s presentation but the way the man smirked as he called Zuko his “special prisoner” before leaving had sent his skin crawling.

It didn’t matter, not really.

Now that Sokka wasn’t acting a complete fool and they had found at least one person they could bring back to the air temple with them, Zuko was sure they’d be out before anything got too much worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading! This section got a little away from me in terms of length, which is why I decided to up the chapter count by one. I really liked writing Zuko finally really going off on Sokka, and I hope you enjoyed reading it! Next chapter will be the rest of the Boiling Rock and will include wonderful little things like Hakoda's introduction and finally some Mai and Ty Lee appearances (I know some of you were wondering how exactly Hakoda will react to Zuko and I promise it's coming up!) One final thing to address is the relationships in this series. When I first began writing, I was like 95% sure it was going to be Sokka/Zuko but then I began writing Suki and I realized how much I really do love her and I haven't the slightest clue how to satisfactorily write her relationship with Sokka out of the picture and there is also a few other relationship dynamics between the orientations that I wanted to explore so this might end up being a Zuko/Sokka/Suki story instead. I haven't fully made up my mind about it yet, but I wanted to give all of you the heads up about it just in case it isn't any of your guys' thing since I did say it was probably going to be Sokka/Zuko before. Again thanks for reading, and I'll try to update again as soon as possible (my family is currently in the middle of a cross-state move, so it might be slower than usual)!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Announcement: I added another chapter to the final count again and I apologize for that! I meant to finish this story completely but my family and I are actually moving to a different part of the country this week, which means I won't really be able to work on this story for a while and I figured I would post what I have instead of making you wait longer for any update. So while this chapter doesn't have everything in it and it's shorter than the others, hopefully it is enjoyable!

Sokka was not panicking. Nope, no sir, not panicking.

He was cool as a cucumberquat.

Absolutely calm.

Might as well give him the award for “Most Calm and Least Panicked in the Face of Potential Disaster,” because that’s what he was.

Completely calm.

Cool as a cucumberquat.

“If you don’t sit down and eat, New Guy, I’m going to steal all the good pieces.” A guard off to the left of Sokka, sitting at a table with several others, called out and Sokka barely resisted from jumping in alarm before feeling heat rush to his face.

“Uh, right, sorry. I was just uh –“ Sokka’s mouth stalled as he couldn’t think of an excuse as to why exactly he had been – _completely calmly_ – pacing up and down the mess hall.

“Cut him some slack, Huan. He’s the guy that almost got killed by the new prisoner earlier,” one of the guards sitting at the same table as the man who had first addressed Sokka spoke up, her tone chiding. She slid a bowl of food over to Sokka as he sat down next to her. He couldn’t stop the flinch that came with the mention on Zuko – who Sokka was not at all worried about because Zuko was a strong fighter and perfectly capable of handling himself and didn’t need to be worried about at all –

Sokka had thought, after leaving Zuko’s cell, that the more times he thought the words, the more they were likely to become reality. He had practiced it while doing rounds around the outside perimeter of the island after meeting with Zuko – he had had far too much pent up energy to just sit inside. So far, it hadn’t happened but he couldn’t look _worried_ about the prisoner who had attacked him. At least, not without giving rise to a million and a half unpleasant questions.

No one had noticed Sokka’s reaction to the woman’s words, thankfully and he was careful to try and school his face into a neutral expression as he pulled the offered bowl towards him. It wouldn’t be good not to eat, even if it felt like his stomach was doing somersaults inside him. He’d only regret it later, when he saw Zuko again and his worry was replaced by an insistent hunger.

“Oh, come on, Jing-yi. Every guard’s got to go through the ringer at least once or they can’t really call themselves a guard at the Boiling Rock, can they?” The man who had first called out to Sokka, Huan or whatever the woman had called him, spoke as though there was something to be proud of in being a guard at this prison. Sokka didn’t think there was any pride in being at all involved in this hellscape, but he had been raised with non-imperialistic, murder negative morals so his viewpoint was probably skewed. “You didn’t give me any slack when Old Man Hao Yu had me in that headlock my second week here!”

Jing-Yi just rolled her eyes. “Everyone knows Old Man Hao Yu gets violent when you try to take his stick away! You should have let him draw on the ground in peace. Pissing off a man who’s been in prison longer than you’ve been alive is way different than getting surprise-attacked by someone impersonating a guard and you know it.”

Sokka took a cautious bite of his food while the playful bickering around him continued. The Fire Nation was not satisfied with just general evilness – they also ensured that most of their foods were a vicious punch of spice to the tongue and Sokka had learned to be very wary of all of it while they had been undercover before the invasion. The dish was rice with vegetables and bits of Komodo-Chicken on top, slightly spicy but not enough to make him cry, though. Small mercies, he supposed as he took another slightly larger bite.

The conversation around him continued but Sokka tuned it out as well as he could. He didn’t really care what these guards thought about the new prisoner – it was obvious that they weren’t privy to who the new prisoner was, which was surprising because Zuko wasn’t exactly the most inconspicuous looking person, and their conversation seemed mostly geared towards giving each other the most trouble as possible.

Unfortunately, no matter how much Sokka tried to convince himself that this was the perfect time to come up with some ideas about their escape – he had found a blind spot while walking the perimeter and he just knew if he put some thought into it, he could have a plan - he found his mind slipping traitorously back to Zuko. Guilt turned in his stomach as he remembered the angry words Zuko had lashed at him. He really hadn’t meant to make Zuko feel like that but it was incredibly hard to just ignore every part of his body that screamed he needed to protect him. Even now, after having promised he would try harder to let it all go and trust in Zuko’s ability, he still worried about the other boy. Was he being fed? Sokka hadn’t seen any dishes in his tiny cell but he knew the other prisoners in that block had already been given food – they were on lockdown because of Zuko’s breach but Sokka knew that was lifting within the hour. Certainly they weren’t going to try and starve the former prince right off the bat?

Even assuming they had fed him, had he gotten nearly enough? He was already slight for an omega – so much so that even Katara had noticed despite her go-to solution of pretending Zuko didn’t exist so she didn’t wind up trying to kill him – and Sokka highly doubted the Boiling Rock gave more than the bare minimum to the prisoners. Sokka wanted to try and sneak some extra food to him, just in case, but that was the exact kind of urge that Zuko didn’t want him giving into and it was an unnecessary risk that could end up getting him caught. He would have to trust that Zuko was getting enough from the prison meals.

And then tell Katara to add a few extra pieces of meat into Zuko’s next few meals. Quietly.

That was only one concern though, and Sokka had a mountain of others to try and fight through. There had been no mattress in Zuko’s holding cell – was he going to be moved to a different, more equipped cell or were they expecting him to just sleep on the cold floor? Sokka understood that this was a prison and Zuko had almost definitely been in worse spots – he had told them all he and his uncle had been refugees before reaching Ba Sing Se and it was hardly like there were quality inns or hotels along the way for weary travelers but still the idea of Zuko curling onto the cold metal floor of his cell to try and sleep was an unpleasant one.

There was nothing he could do about that though, other than try and plan an escape as quickly as possible, so he forced the worry from his mind.

Just as quickly as that one was gone, another, more pressing worry took its place. What did the warden want with Zuko? Was he just checking on a new prisoner or was it likely that the warden knew who the new prisoner was? Sokka could recognize Zuko anywhere and he assumed that, as the former Crown Prince, his face was well known throughout the Fire Nation but maybe it wasn’t? It didn’t seem like any of the guards sitting at the table with him had recognized him, so perhaps not. Maybe all the public paintings of Zuko were from when he was a kid or something. If the warden did know who Zuko was, did he know about his orientation?

Sokka rather doubted that – surely, if Zuko’s father had made him learn how to mask his scent so thoroughly, it had been to keep his orientation under wraps? Such a thing would never have happened back home in the Southern Water Tribe because each orientation was worthy of celebration, especially the rarer ones, but it made sense in such a messed-up place like the Fire Nation. And it wasn’t like Zuko would be jumping at the chance to reveal it to an enemy in a place like this. So Sokka forced himself not to worry about that.

The concern about the warden knowing that Zuko was the crown prince was the most pressing. If he did know, how much time would they have before the Fire Lord was informed? Had the alarm already been raised? And what exactly would the warden do to keep the former prince in line? If he knew who Zuko was, then he would be an idiot if he didn’t take any precautions against him. Zuko might not be at the same insane level as his sister what with her blue fire and crazy lightning fingers, but he was still an incredibly powerful bender.

An image, unbidden and horrifying, rose in Sokka’s mind of Zuko being forced into one of those freezing cells. Would that be Zuko’s fate? Was he already in one now, shivering violently as he waited for his father to come collect him for more untold horrors?

No, Sokka couldn’t let himself go down that path. Zuko was fine.

Zuko could handle himself.

Zuko was a badass jerkbender who went toe-to-toe with the Avatar multiple times before betraying his entire country to side with said Avatar.

Zuko was fine.

Sokka was starting to believe that saying it multiple times to himself really _wasn’t_ going to make the uneasy turning of his stomach go away any faster.

He had only finished half of his bowl when a bell began chiming through the mess hall, signaling that the prisoners had been released from the lockdown, and Sokka jumped at the chance to push his bowl away and excuse himself from the table.

His sudden movement startled the rest of the group around him who hadn’t even broken from their conversation at the sound of the bells and Jing-Yi looked nearly concerned. Or maybe that was suspicion. Sokka liked suspicion better. He didn’t want to find empathy amongst the other guards. “You haven’t even finished, where are you off too?”

“I’ve got to – uh- go oversee the courtyard,” Sokka pointed in the general direction of the prison yard for emphasis. “You can finish my food, if you want,” he added as Huan eyed it hopefully. Before anyone could say anything more, Sokka had turned and walked quickly from the room. 

He still didn’t have a concrete plan but with the nagging image of the cooler in the back of his mind, he went off to find Suki and Zuko.

They would come up with something together. Once he saw both of them and knew they were fine, Sokka was sure the ideas would flow freely.

Not that he was worried about either of them.

Because they could handle themselves just fine and didn’t need him worrying about them. 

Which he wasn’t doing because he didn’t need to.

His feet sped up all on their own once he caught sight of the sun glinting off the prison yard stones.

But only because he was excited to leave this awful place, not because his mind was roaring at the idea of wasting time when he could be checking on Zuko and Suki.

* * *

Zuko was escorted into a new cell shortly after the warden left him. It was a shade bigger than the holding cell with a threadbare mattress in one corner and a few ominous stains on the rusted metal floor. Zuko had slept in far worse and he kept his face carefully impassive as the guard turned towards him with an expectant sneer, obviously wanting to see a royal’s disgust at the bare room. The man’s face turned briefly into a disappointed glare and he shoved Zuko into the room with a few barked commands to stay put.

Zuko heard the guard’s footsteps start fading away the moment his door slammed shut and he breathed a quiet sigh of relief. It would be so much easier to plan an escape without having a personal guard standing outside his cell. Not that he had so much as an inkling on how exactly to begin said prison break. Now that his anger at Sokka had been abated – general annoyance still simmered just under his skin but it was just as manageable as the general unhappiness that had plagued him since he had been banished and at least he knew what Sokka’s weirdness was rooted in – it was easier to think. Had it been just him, Zuko was almost certain he would be able to slip away – either during a meal or in the hours where prisoners were allowed outside in the courtyard – without alerting a single guard until it was too late for them to stop him but with two other people to account for, one of whom didn’t know the definition of the word “sneaky” and another who didn’t know him, that was not possible.

And even if they could, by some miracle, sneak past the guards undetected, they had no clear way of actually _leaving_ the Boiling Rock. His hot air balloon was at the bottom of the lake and it wasn’t like there was a fleet of them just sitting around for prisoners to take.

More footsteps were coming down the hallway now, abruptly tearing Zuko’s thoughts away from escape planning. He braced himself right as they reached his door – if a guard was coming to attack him, he wasn’t going to make it easy for them even if he ended up being punished for it – but the only thing that happened was the slot in his door sliding open. Zuko let himself relax slightly as a guard shoved a tray of food into his room, letting it bang loudly onto the metal floor below before gruffly saying, “eat quickly, you’re on mop duty in five.” He left before Zuko could respond, slamming the door to the slot closed before stomping away.

The meal was small, just a tiny bowl of rice half-spilled on the metal tray, a few strips of a dried mystery meat, and a chipped clay cup with half the water sloshed out of it but it was more than Zuko had expected to see for the entire day and he knew better than to reject it. He took the man’s words to heart and ate his meal quickly - although that had more to do with the stringy bitterness of the meat and the mushy overcooked taste of the rice than the actual warning. He had just managed to wash the aftertaste out of his mouth with a few shallow gulps of the water before more guards were banging down the hall again.

He could hear them calling out warnings to the prisoners, telling them to keep away from the door and not to overcrowd in the hallway and he straightened up from his hunched position over his bowl, carefully wiping water from his mouth. It only took another moment for Zuko’s door to slide open to reveal a scowling guard. “To the courtyard,” she barked to him as he slid back onto his feet in a single, graceful movement. “Ask another prisoner where the mops are.” She added gruffly. Zuko jerked his chin down in acknowledgement to her words but made no move to pass her. He wasn’t nearly stupid enough to show her his back.

The guard was too efficient to be cruel; she merely accepted his nod with a single stern look of her own and turned away from him to approach the next cell. Zuko moved out from his cell the moment the woman was fully out of its frame and into the hallway. Many other prisoners had already been released from their cells and it was not hard to follow the crowd back out into the courtyard where he and Sokka had watched that large prisoner get dragged away.

It was weird to think that had only been a few hours ago. Weird to think that less than a full day ago, Zuko had been free and hanging around the Avatar in an abandoned air temple, as far away from his father as he could possibly get while still doing something to put a stop to him and now he was closer than he’d been since his father had last tried to kill him. If he thought about it too much, he could almost sense him getting closer, could almost hear the whisper of angry words and smug taunts that would accompany him. He knew that the warden wasn’t going to keep him a secret from the Fire Lord for long and the truth would come out far sooner than Zuko would like.

There wasn’t anything he could do about that though, except ensure that he was long gone before his father could arrive, so he forced the thoughts and the fears as far down as they could possibly go and set out to find the mops before a guard decided he was slacking too much.

Asking where the cleaning supplies was held involved talking to another prisoner, which Zuko absolutely refused to do, so it took him a shade longer than was strictly comfortable to locate a half-open storage cupboard filled with moldy smelling mops and rusted buckets. Refusing to wrinkle his nose at the terrible musty smell inside – it rivaled even Uncle’s sweatiest sandal – he quickly grabbed one of each and shut the door completely.

The next step was finding his two accomplices. Sokka did not seem to be among the guards watching from the corners of the courtyard but it didn’t matter; Suki, with her slight build and petite height, was easily discernible amongst the large and burly prisoners that seemed to be almost the entire makeup of the Boiling Rock and it didn’t take long to set a newly filled bucket on the ground next to hers and begin swabbing beside her. Perhaps he should have spoken to her but he had no idea if Sokka had told her what the boy he was working with looked like – or even if he had been able to mention an accomplice before Zuko had started a fight with the other guard – and he noticed the way her shoulders slightly tensed as he brought his mop around next to hers.

Zuko knew he wasn’t good with words – he had honestly been banking on Sokka being here to ease some of the awkwardness that always came when Zuko met someone new – and he found himself at a loss about what he could say that would put the girl at ease. Somehow, he didn’t think diving straight into how he knew who she was and that one of the guards was a fake was a great way to accomplish that.

He was saved from having to come up with anything by loud footsteps echoing down from the staircase above them. Zuko looked up from the corner of his eye and instantly relaxed at the sight of Sokka, still dressed in a full uniform, appearing at the foot of stairs. “Oh good,” Sokka said, perhaps a bit too loudly for the public space, as he came to a stop in front of them. There was something odd in his voice, a tone Zuko couldn’t quite place but had heard a few times in his uncle’s voice after particularly grueling days, but his face was light as he continued, “you guys have met.”

Before Zuko could say anything at all, Suki was responding. She shot him a wary look before saying, in a carefully casual voice and without a break in her mopping, “actually, we met a long time ago.”

That didn’t make sense to Zuko. He had been at the sea for a long time and he had met more than his fair share of people, but most of those people had been Fire Nation and very few had been close to his own age. Few Earth Kingdom ports, even the neutral ones, were friendly to a whole Fire Nation ship and most of the people who had dealt with them would not have allowed their children, even almost grown ones like Suki, to meet or deal with a Fire Nation royal. And it wasn’t like Suki was a plain or common looking person who could easily slide away into the background. He would have remembered her, had he met her.

But it probably wasn’t a good idea to argue with a new ally. “We did?” He asked instead, hardly looking up from his mopping. It would only draw unwanted attention if they stopped to have this conversation.

“Yeah,” there was definitely something strained in Suki’s voice now as she passed him by with her mop. “You kind of… burned down my village.” Those words did make Zuko pause, even though Suki kept up her work as though she was completely unbothered by it.

In the first three years that Zuko had been at sea, he had almost never set fire to any place. He had been tempted, of course. His temper was legendary and there were few people who respected a thirteen-year-old banished prince, but his uncle had almost always curbed his desire to burn things to the ground. The only exception had been an ill-fated meeting with one of his father’s advisors, one of the few men privy to Zuko’s orientation, just a year after Zuko’s banishment began. That man had been a bit too casual, even to a banished prince, his gaze a little too lingering and his fingers a little too close to Zuko as he had remarked how much of a pity it was for an otherwise pretty face to be marred. Zuko didn’t regret burning the man’s colonial estate to the ground in a fit of adolescent rage and no matter how many genial apologies his uncle had offered the man, there was no hiding the fact that Zuko had seen his uncle’s fingers spark a little too close to the man’s curtains when the fire had first started.

That had been the last time a noble had invited Zuko into one of their estates for a sympathetic dinner, and the desire to set things alight had gone down significantly. Until, that was, the Avatar had reappeared in the world and suddenly Zuko was lighting many things and places on fire.

There had only been one entire village, though, and it suddenly made sense why Suki had seemed oddly familiar when he had first seen her. She was one of the Kyoshi warriors who had fought in those impractically long skirts so long ago on Kyoshi Island. Perhaps even the leader, to have been set to such a dangerous prison. A formidable fighter, then, and someone very much entitled to a large grudge against him.

Zuko had no idea what to say. There were no words that would take back those fires, no magic phrases that would rebuild the homes lost in his frenzy. It had been so long ago that any offers of money or people to help rebuild – not that Zuko currently had either to spare – would also be pointless. And he couldn’t even offer some awkward platitude like he had done with Sokka earlier – Zuko hadn’t been involved with Princess Yue becoming one with the moon spirit but he had been the direct cause of Suki’s village being destroyed. He couldn’t just _not_ acknowledge that.

His uncle would have had proverbs to share, would have been able to make coax Zuko into the exact words for a heartfelt, proper apology. Zuko had none of that and so, feeling incredibly awkward and shifting around with a heavy feeling of guilt, he settled for a simple “Oh. Sorry about that.” Followed, most unfortunately, by “it’s nice to see you again?”

He almost expected Suki to attack him – it was well within her rights and would have been the proper protocol, had she been from the Fire Nation where no acts of violence like Zuko’s could go un-countered – but Suki proved a better person. Or perhaps she was simply biding her time until they were in a better position for her to get retribution. For instead of turning and going after Zuko, Suki looked around before letting her mop fall from her hand and darting to stand against the wall of the staircase, beckoning for the two boys to follow after her.

Feeling incredibly uncomfortable, Zuko followed suit, making sure to maintain a more than respectful distance from the warrior as he dropped down beside her so that no one would see their heads as they came down the stairs.

Hopefully Sokka had come up with something good that would get them out quickly. Zuko had already been wary about the other prisoners learning his identity, it was ten times worse to know that one of them – the very one they were trying to escape with – had a very good reason for wanting him to suffer. Zuko didn’t think any friend of Sokka’s would be cruel but he also didn’t want to test how long it would take for her to suggest cutting loose ends and making a cleaner escape.

Zuko wouldn’t even blame her, if she did.

* * *

“So listen,” Sokka began, looking over his shoulder to check that no one was paying attention to them before dropping down to Zuko and Suki’s level and carefully ignoring the obvious tension. It was partially his fault – Suki was handling the whole “the former Crown Prince of the Fire Nation who once burned down your village and attacked you is now on our side so please don’t kill him” reveal pretty well without any warning but he had forgotten how _awkward_ Zuko could be. He should have warned the other boy exactly where Suki came from but it had slipped his mind and now, he was sitting ramrod straight, a good half a foot away from Suki and looked as though he expected to be stabbed at any moment.

Which, given the young teenage girls in Zuko’s life up to this point, was actually a fairly legitimate concern.

But that wasn’t the point and Sokka gave himself an inward shake to return his attention back to the matter at hand as he finished sinking to the floor opposite the other two. “I haven’t come up with a plan yet,” he admitted to them with a slight cringe. He hated that he had let them down. “But I did find something useful. I walked around the perimeter earlier and there’s a blind spot between two guard towers. Guards on the ground only walk the perimeter once every couple hours, so as long as we time it right, we can leave from there without anyone noticing.”

“Okay,” Suki said slowly. She had a faraway look in her eye as though she was imagining Sokka’s words. “This is down on the shore?” She asked and Sokka nodded in confirmation.

"It’ll be too close to the lake to even try an aerial escape, then” Zuko added, his voice quiet and thoughtful. His eyes were trained carefully to the ground, so he missed the surprised look Suki had given him – she must not have thought he really was there to help until he started voicing his own thoughts - and continued speaking, “even if we got a balloon down there, the air is too hot. Which means –“ Zuko’s eyes shot up, disbelief shining in them as he caught Sokka’s gaze, “you want to try going across the water?”

Sokka nodded again. “I haven’t thought about it much yet,” he admitted, ever careful not to tell Zuko what had been hindering his planning previously – the other boy wasn’t screaming or glaring at him at the moment and he very much wanted to keep it that way, “but I’m thinking it’s probably our only shot. The only normal way in or out is the gondola they use to ferry prisoners in and there’s no way we could use that without drawing major attention to us,” he paused and looked at Suki for confirmation. She was the only one of the three who had actually come to the prison the conventional way, after all.

Suki was quick to agree. “When they brought me in, the stepping off platform was crowded with guards and it took two of them just to man the levers that move the gondola. There’s no way we could do it just the three of us.” Sokka was pleased to hear her so easily include Zuko into the plan, even if her actual words were unhelpful.

“Even if we could,” Zuko added, voice still quiet as he pointedly didn’t look at Suki. Rather than being reassured by Suki’s more or less easy acceptance of him, it seemed to make him more and more uneasy and Sokka had to stamp down a burst of irrational anger at every single person that had contributed to Zuko’s obvious trust issues before it could show on his face and scoot Zuko further to the edge of his anger. “There’s no guarantee there will be something on the other side to take. Hot air balloons are restricted almost entirely to the military and the royal family and any vehicle that could take us down to the ocean to steal a ship will be locked away.” Zuko's words were no more helpful than Suki's had been, but Sokka was just grateful enough that the other boy was no longer seething at him and at least talking in front of Suki to be too disheartened.

"So how are we going to cross a boiling lake without getting burned?" Suki asked, giving voice to the massive camelephant in the room. 

Before either Sokka or Zuko could respond to her, a booming, strangely familiar voice drawled out from above them, "Yeah, _how_ are you going to cross the boiling lake?" 

And then there was a massive figure launching itself from the top of the stairs and Sokka's life became far, far more complicated. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not as much happened as I originally envisioned, but hopefully it was still enjoyable! I said this in the beginning note but just in case anyone missed it, my family and I are moving so I won't be able to write for at least a few days so while I will try to update as soon as possible, the next chapter will probably come later than usual. Thank you all for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

Chit Sang landed neatly with a soft thump right before the three teens. Zuko tensed as the man’s large form towered over them and his scent – strong, almost oppressively powerful – rolled over them. It was obvious Chit Sang was making no effort to curb it back and the scent of crackling wildfire and black pine was almost like a threat as it quickly permeated through the small area behind the staircase. The silence following his interruption was thick with tension and Zuko was half up from his crouched position, ready and willing to quickly silence the taller man, when Sokka broke it.

“What? Escape across the lake? We didn’t say that?” Zuko barely withheld an eyeroll at the nervous tittering from the other boy. For someone so clever, Sokka truly was an idiot in almost every regard. Zuko wasn’t the best liar by any means, but at least he had _some_ sense of subterfuge. Setting aside his annoyance for later, Zuko turned to Chit Sang.

Where Sokka always seemed to take the “gee shucks, I’m just a helpless boy!” route that almost all of the Avatar’s friends seemed to favor, Zuko went straight to menacing. Turning to face Chit Sang full on, Zuko glared fiercely and said in a low growl, “yeah, you heard wrong.”

Chit Sang ignored the words, barely sparing a glance at Zuko in favor of staring down Sokka. Zuko tried to clamp down against the flair of irritation at the blatant dismissal as Chit Sang began to speak in a clear, calm voice. “I heard you hatching an escape plan and I want in.” His tone brooked no arguments but that had certainly never stopped Zuko before.

“There’s nothing to get in on,” he responded back, his voice still low but now mimicking the false calmness in the older man’s own voice. Chit Sang turned his gaze to him then and Zuko tensed up, ready for the moment the altercation turned violent. But before anything could happen beyond a stare down, Sokka was chiming in once again.

“Yeah! The only thing we’re hatching is… an egg?” If they ever got out of this prison, Zuko was going to invest in a muzzle. He didn’t even think Katara would protest too much.

They had obviously lost any sense of credibility so Zuko didn’t bother trying not to react and let out a loud groan as his hand flew up to cover his face. In a brief moment of unexpected solidarity, Suki did the same beside him as Sokka shot them both a panicked, apologetic look.

Chit Sang seized the moment quickly. “Well, I come with or the warden finds out about this egg.”

Suki spoke quietly, “I guess we have no choice.” That wasn’t quite true. If they moved quickly enough, Chit Sang would fit quite well into one of the supply closets. It would cinch their timeline down dramatically, but it could still be doable.

Before Zuko could suggest what was clearly the only actual sensible choice, Sokka was nodding briskly and turning to Chit Sang, “fine, you’re in,” he told the man and Zukko had to bite back another groan. Apparently, _he_ was the only one smart enough to realize how absolutely stupid it was to trust a Fire Nation criminal. It was almost insulting, how quickly Suki and Sokka both had accepted Chit Sang into the plan.

It was also a terrible mistake but it was too late to change it now.

Zuko would just have to keep an eye on the bigger man.

And negate the threat quickly before he became a true liability.

* * *

Sokka knew he had messed up. He had taken their excuse past logic and let it flounder with that “egg” comment. That had often been one of his problems – he always took things a step too far, spoke a bit too much and now they had an unwanted fourth member to their makeshift group.

He didn’t even know what the large man had been thrown in a high security prison for. He was obviously Fire Nation through and through – he didn’t even have the slight quick staccato that characterized the accent of colonials, so he was definitely raised on pure Fire Nation soil – so Sokka highly doubted it was something as righteous as “war criminal” or “traitor,” which were written all over Suki and Zuko’s files. For all he knew, Chit Sang could have been a rabid serial killer with a taste for young flesh.

That was probably a bit too far and taking a bit too much from Toph’s creepy Earth Kingdom horror stories. And it didn’t matter much if Chit Sang was a serial killer – it was too late to convince him this was all an elaborate joke and, as much as Sokka didn’t want to admit it, having someone on their side who knew the inside of the prison better than any of them was a huge benefit. Chit Sang could prove very useful and, if it turned out that he was a bigger risk than a benefit, they could always cut him out at the end and leave him behind when they made their escape.

Ignoring Zuko’s dark, shuttered expression – Sokka knew that he had annoyed the other boy when he had blown the decent cover Zuko had been trying to make, which was just another thing he would have to smooth over later – and Suki’s guarded, worried one, Sokka leaned back in and gestured for Chit Sang to sit closer in their little circle. “Do you know of anything that could help get us across the lake?” He asked the older man quietly, purposely pushing aside the worry that swirled around his stomach at the sight of Chit Sang sitting himself between Suki and Zuko, just a tad too close to both of them for Sokka’s taste. But he held his tongue as he began grilling the older man for information - if Sokka was going to help a possible serial killer out of a high-security prison, the least the man could do was pull his own weight.

"Nope,” Chit Sang popped out, looking far too calm for Sokka’s liking. “They don’t exactly let the prisoners near anything useful, do they?” He added without a trace of defensiveness at the dark looks the trio of teens gave him. “And besides, I haven’t been here long enough to get a specialized job like the old timers got. All I’ve seen of this place, besides the cooler, is the same kind of thing as you guys. My cell, the cafeteria –“

The rest of Chit Sang’s words were drowned out as a sudden realization came over Sokka. He slammed his fist into his hand in a loud, triumphant gesture that startled the rest of the group. “That’s it!” Sokka whispered victoriously, heedless of the shocked looks around him.

“The _courtyard_ is going to get us across the lake?” Suki whispered back, her confusion evident in her voice.

“What?” Sokka asked, momentarily distracted from the brilliant plan blooming in his mind. “Of course not! The _coolers_!”

It had come to him in a brilliant flash. The prison was built in the center of a volcanic lake because not even the most powerful of firebenders were able to withstand the heat of the lake to swim across and practically every piece of the prison was built of metal, ensuring that even if a prisoner could sneak away a large enough piece to float on, the burns they would receive as the water lapped at the metal would be too severe to recover from. He had even heard an older guard brag about the horrific burns he had once seen on a prisoner who had tried such a thing. Every single thing in the prison – from the sheets of metal older prisoners were forced to shape for Fire Nation ships to the flimsy, lumpy mattresses that would shrivel under the extreme heat – was designed to fall apart or turn against any prisoner foolish enough to risk the heat of the lake. Every single thing, _except_ the coolers. The coolers, the ultimate torture device for any firebender, were also the ultimate escape tool.

Sokka could turn the vile device against its makers and that was almost as sweet as the actual escape would be.

“The coolers?” Suki repeated, a doubtful tone in her voice that dragged Sokka from his triumphant thoughts.

Chit Sang and Zuko looked just as confused but Sokka merely grinned as he began explaining. “The coolers are designed to keep firebenders contained, right?” A few hesitant nods encouraged him to continue speaking. “Which means they are insulated and sealed to keep the cold in. And to keep the cold in, you’d have to keep the heat out, right?”

Suki and Chit Sang still looked as though they didn’t quite understand where Sokka was going with it but a looking of dawning comprehension was blooming on Zuko’s face. “You want to use a cooler to get across the lake? Are you sure that would work?”

Sokka grinned again as he spread his arms out wide. “Absolutely! We can use the blind spot I found as a launching point. We’ll use the lake’s current to drift across to the other side and then we’re home free!”

He hadn’t expected applause or anything – they had to keep quiet not to alert anyone to their little rendezvous, after all – but he thought his plan deserved a _bit_ more recognition than a few more unsure faces. He had come up with it quickly and almost entirely by himself and it was a really good plan. Practically foolproof!

“Okay,” Suki began slowly, a contemplative tone to her voice. “But how would we get a cooler out in the first place?”

Alright, a mostly foolproof plan. Sokka hadn’t really considered that yet.

He thought about it for a moment. As insulated as the coolers were, all the bolts holding it in place had to be on the inside to keep any cold from ebbing out through outside holes. Which meant there was only one way to install the tiny rooms into the prison. “We’ll need someone on the inside,” he answered after a few moments’ of thinking. “to unbolt the cooler.” He turned to Chit Sang. “I can get you a wrench from the work room when I have a shift in there,” he told the older man. He supposed the man had some use after all; there was no way Sokka, dressed as a guard, could go in a cooler long enough to get all the bolts undone without raising a lot of suspicion.

Chit Sang, apparently, had other plans. “I ain’t going back in there,” he told Sokka as matter-of-factly as he would have told him the weather. “I can help you get someone in there, but I’m not going to do it.”

“What do you mean?” Sokka asked, trying to keep his frustration off of his face. Chit Sang was a wild card and it wouldn’t do to anger him. There was no telling what would get back to the warden.

“I’m not going back in there.” Chit Sang repeated, a stubborn lilt to his voice. “It’s awful in there. Messes with you. I ain’t doing it.”

"You have to do it!” Sokka’s voice had risen some with near panic. If Chit Sang wasn’t willing to go back into the cooler, they might as well kiss the entire plan goodbye.

“Nope. Not gonna happen.” Chit Sang said calmly, leaning back slightly as he peered down at Sokka. It was times like these that Sokka really wished his growth spurt would come in – it was hard to stare down an adult at the best of times but even more so when the adult in question was massive.

Still, Sokka wasn’t about to let his brilliant plan wither into nothing right in front of him. He sat up as straight as possible, hoping his spine would grant him even just a little bit of the extra height the spirits were keeping from him, and set his expression. Before he could even begin speaking – a long, important speech was already forming in his mind that he was sure would convince the jerk in front of him to not be selfish and just take one for the team – Zuko was butting in.

“I’ll do it.” The other boy said quietly and the shock of his words were enough to send almost the entirety of Sokka’s half-constructed speech straight from his mind, leaving only one word in its wake. 

“No!” He blurted out before he could think better of it. The haunted images of Zuko curled in on himself inside one of those torture chambers were back in his mind as every inch of his body screamed at him to protect Zuko from the horror. There was no way on Earth, in the mortal realm or the spiritual, that Sokka would allow Zuko to put himself in that situation. Absolutely no way.

Zuko’s sharp eyes narrowed slightly at Sokka’s outburst, and warning bells began ringing faintly in the back of Sokka’s mind. “What do you mean, ‘no’?” There was a dangerous undercurrent to Zuko’s usual rasp, one that Sokka had been getting more and more familiar with as the prison trip dragged on, but it was far too late to backtrack and Sokka didn’t care how angry he made the other boy; he wasn’t going into the cooler.

“I mean, no, you aren’t going into the cooler.” Sokka answered, trying to force calm in his voice. He could see, from the corner of his eye, an amused smirk cross across Chit Sang’s face as confusion bloomed across Suki’s, but he ignored both and kept his gaze locked onto Zuko’s.

The other boy seemed to be trying to force calm into his own expression but there was a steely glint in his golden eyes that betrayed his anger. “I’m the _only_ one that can. Chit Sang doesn’t want to and Suki’s not a firebender.”

“It doesn’t matter what Chit Sang wants!” Sokka’s arms flailed recklessly. “He’s the newbie so he’s got to pull his own weight!”

“Are you really going to trust the “newbie” with the most important part of the entire plan?” Zuko shot back.

"I’m right here, you know,” Chit Sang called out, although his tone seemed more amused than offended as he went completely ignored by both of the boys.

“Yes, because he’s expendable!” Sokka answered back, his voice rising to an almost dangerous volume.

“Really, going to hurt a guy’s feelings.” Chit Sang said, but his words were drowned out as Sokka continued speaking.

“And he’s been in there before; he knows how cold it is and that he can handle it!”

“Oh, and I can’t?” There was a direct challenge in Zuko’s voice as it to rose in volume.

“Are they always like this?” Chit Sang asked Suki conversationally.

“No idea, this is new to me.” Suki responded back, her sharp gaze fixed on the two boys as though she was watching a particularly riveting game.

“I didn’t say that!” Sokka answered back, suddenly defensive. “ Stop putting words into my mouth! I just meant you haven’t experienced that cold yet!”

“I’ve been to _both_ the poles!” Zuko had leapt to his feet as he through his arms out in anger and for a moment he towered over Sokka until the other boy had the thought to join him on even ground and jumped up. “I _swam_ in the ocean and up an ice tunnel to sneak into the North Pole for Agni’s sake! I can handle _a bit of cold_!”

“You did _what_?” Suki muttered, aghast. Like all Chit Sang’s words before, her surprised question went unrecognized by the two boys as they warred with each other.

“Trust me, I’m not about to forget you’ve been to the poles!” Sokka’s voice was almost a snarl as he remembered, quite vividly, the look of terror on all the women and children’s faces when they had caught sight of Zuko and his crew. The bitter taste of his failure then only fueled his resolve to win this fight.

"Then you _know_ I’ll be fine!” Zuko’s voice was just as harsh as Sokka’s and dangerously close to a shout. He seemed to realize that he was far too close to drawing unwanted attention – perhaps he’d caught sight of the sharp warning look from Suki or the hissed irritation from Chit Sang – because he forced himself to take a deep, steadying breath and when he continued speaking, just a moment later, his voice was quiet and carefully calm once more. “You promised you wouldn’t do this.”

And oh, those words hit a little too close. Sokka didn’t know whether it was the words themselves or the sloppily veiled hurt behind them, but he felt himself deflate as his righteous anger left him. He _had_ promised he would try to be less overprotective and here he was, less than a few hours later, freaking out at the first hint of Zuko being in a dangerous situation. It was unfair to Zuko, to treat him so poorly in general but almost doubly so such a short time after Zuko had opened up about how hurtful it was. Zuko was a warrior, regardless of his orientation, and Sokka had to remember that no matter how much his mind screamed that the other boy needed to be protected.

Sokka swallowed hard against the rebelling roar of protectiveness and residual anger and gave a short, brisk nod. “You’re right, I’m sorry.” The words were bitter in his throat – every muscle in his body protested at the mere thought of Zuko suffering in one of those cursed rooms – but they were almost worth the slight dip of the other boy’s head as he accepted the apology.

Dreading it all deeply and knowing full well he was going to absolutely regret it, Sokka turned to Chit Sang and Suki. They were openly staring at the pair but Sokka pushed aside the sudden rush of self-consciousness and forced himself to speak, hating every word that dropped from his mouth. “I’ll grab a wrench from one of the workrooms and give it to Zuko. He’ll unbolt the cooler and we will go from there.” Sokka didn’t wait for any of their responses. Without another word, he turned sharply from the group and strode out from the corner.

Sokka made sure to keep his face blank as he passed by prisoners and guards alike as he swiftly made his way to the nearest workroom.

He didn’t know whether he’d made the right decision or the wrong one, giving in to Zuko and setting aside his own reservations, but there was a ball of dread sinking into the bottom of his stomach and he couldn’t shake the feeling that it was all a terrible mistake.

* * *

Zuko didn’t bother watching Sokka walk away like the other two. The moment the Water Tribe boy had turned away, he snatched his mop away from the wall and began viciously swabbing it across the metal floor. If he had thought he could get away with it, he would have sent several fire blasts into the walls to release some of the anger boiling in the pit of his stomach but he would have to settle for trying to grind the mop into the floor. It wouldn’t do to be sent to the cooler before Sokka had gotten back with the wrench, no matter how much Zuko wanted to spite the obnoxious boy.

Zuko’s face burned with equal parts humiliation and anger as he splashed tepid mop water over his own feet. He had really thought he had made a dent in Sokka’s opinion on him but it only took a single hint of danger to have the boy back to his old tricks. It wasn’t even a major thing – there was no way the warden would let him die before his father had exacted his pound of flesh and the coolers weren’t even designed to cause serious, permanent damage. Zuko wouldn’t even be in danger of losing fingers to frostbite, a fate he had very narrowly avoided following his disastrous visit to the Northern Water Tribe. It was a ridiculous thing for Sokka to have thrown a hissy fit about and the fact that he had done in front of people – particularly a prisoner whom they didn’t know and could very easily turn against them given the right motive was absolutely mortifying.

Even his father, up until the horrific farce of the Agni Kai, had kept his biggest doubts about Zuko’s abilities mostly private. He might have made some disparaging comment about Zuko in the presence of Azula or a few trusted advisors and inconsequential servants who were too scared to ever dare spread court gossip around but he had never done so in front of anyone who would have even considered to use it against him – not that there was many people who were that foolish still alive close to the palace. Yet Sokka hadn’t even hesitated, hadn’t even considered how bad of a situation he had put the whole group in by overreacting at a completely low-risk plan.

Uncle wouldn’t have even batted an eye at Zuko volunteering for the cooler and he was easily the most overprotective person in the family. He had never doubted Zuko’s abilities quite like Sokka, though, and he would have never expressed those doubts in front of a possible enemy.

At least, Zuko thought with another vicious swab of his mop, Chit Sang would underestimate him enough that when his probable betrayal came, Zuko could attack him easily.

So drawn into his own fury, Zuko hardly remembered he still had an audience. At least, until Chit Sang, tired of having to jump out of the way to avoid getting the sickly-sweet smell of mildewed mop water all over his shoes, finally announced in an amused, drawling voice, “Well, the show was fun but I’m gonna head out before the real guards come to check us out. Get me when that other boy comes back.” Zuko didn’t even look up as Chit Sang began walking away, leaving him behind to deal with Suki.

Zuko continued his violent swiping as Suki tentatively took a step towards him. “Um, Zuko?” she asked in a slow, cautious voice.

He turned towards her quickly, a sharp word on the tip of his tongue. He didn’t want to answer her questions, didn’t want to play damage control for his own reputation when it was _Sokka_ who couldn’t stop acting like an idiot, didn’t want to deal with her pitying or judgmental stare. She had already been wary and distrustful of him – rightfully so as he had burned down her town - and there was no way Sokka’s outburst didn’t make her even more so.

But Suki’s face wasn’t pitying or judging. She looked curious and slightly tentative but there wasn’t anything cruel in it like Zuko had expected. Perhaps it was the surprise of it all that made his barked “ _what_?” slightly less aggressive.

“Do you…want to share what that was all about?” She asked and Zuko scowled viciously.

“ _No_!” He snarled and immediately turned back around and began splashing the disgusting water over the floor once more.

Suki seemed undeterred as she moved forward to stand in front of Zuko’s mop. Zuko didn’t bother to stop his vicious swiping but Suki looked unfazed as drops of water splashed across her shoes. “Are you sure?” Suki prodded and Zuko’s distaste for her grew immediately. Why couldn’t she just leave it alone? It wasn’t like they even really knew each other. “It’s just… I’ve seen Sokka act like that before and –“

“You have?” Zuko looked up suddenly as he interrupted, a fist clenched tightly against his mop.

Suki was surprised by the sudden shift in emotion but recovered quickly and nodded. “Yeah. To me actually.”

“To you?” Zuko’s face scrunched in surprise. Suki wasn’t an omega – unless she knew how to mask her scent but he hadn’t met a single Earth Kingdom omega who did that and he had assumed it was primarily a Fire Nation practice. But Kyoshi Island was a unique pocket in the Earth Kingdom, not beholden to any of the minor kings that riddled the mainland and close enough to the Southern Water Tribe to have picked up some outside customs. It was entirely possible that they had their own masking practices.

“Yeah,” Suki admitted completely unselfconsciously. “When we first met, he was actually quite a jerk. Didn’t think girls could fight as well as boys and didn’t like that a group of girls had beat him.”

That was ridiculous. Zuko knew for a fact that fighting ability had nothing to do with gender. Three of the Fire Nation’s preeminent warriors outside of the military were girls – not even particularly old ones, either – and although his mother had chosen, as an omega, to be a noncombatant, his grandmother had been a feared and respected warrior alongside her husband right up till the moment she passed. Even Uncle always used to joke that he would fight all of the earth benders in Ba Sing Se before ever daring to spar with his late wife. Women could be just as powerful as men and the idea of ever doubting that to the point of being furious at their abilities to their face was almost laughable in its ridiculousness. Laughable, but not surprising considering Sokka’s record.

“That’s ridiculous,” Zuko couldn’t help but blurt out earning himself a small, surprised smile from Suki.

“I’m glad you agree. He was a real ass about it, really, but me and my girls got him to come around. It was the second time we met that he really started acting weird, though. A lot closer to how he’s acting around you, actually.” There was a small, slightly puzzled expression on her face at that, as though she was trying to figure out why exactly Sokka was acting so protective over Zuko but she must have decided that – rightfully – it wasn’t the time to ask because she continued speaking. “Me and the Kyoshi Warriors had traveled to the mainland to get involved in the war after –“ she paused for an awkward moment, “well, after you,” Zuko winced at that but Suki tactfully went on talking, “and I was working at the train station getting into Ba Sing Se, checking tickets and doing basic security, when he came in with Aang and everyone. We reconnected then and I decided to help them take the Serpent’s Path to Ba Sing Se. Everyone else was normal but Sokka was acting completely ridiculous. He kept insisting I stay back and even went so far as to move my bedroll because I was too ‘close to the edge.’”

There was an affectionate sort of exasperation in her voice that Zuko didn’t quite understand and didn’t have the time to try and figure out so he pushed it away to the back of his mind alongside the sudden realization that Uncle and him had been dangerously close to running into Suki back when they were traveling to Ba Sing Se. “How’d you get him to stop?” Zuko asked instead of dwelling on their ridiculously close call.

"Well, it was pretty easy for me to figure out a way to get him to stop, but I’m not sure if it’ll work with whatever you two have going on,” Suki’s voice trailed off questioningly, an obvious invitation for him to open up about the issue Sokka had with him.

Zuko pointedly ignored that. He didn’t know the girl enough to even guess at what her reaction to his orientation would be and he was fairly certain their entire plan would crumble if she was even a quarter as weird about it as Sokka was. “What was it?” He tried to keep his voice from sounding too demanding but it was still rough with irritation at the Water Tribe boy.

"Well,” Suki seemed to take Zuko’s tone in stride. “Back when it was just him being a jerk about girls, I prodded him into sparring with me and then laid him on his ass.” She told him calmly, a bit of a smile to her tone as she reminisced what Zuko had to assume was a very pleasant memory, “but when we met again, it was more tricky. It took a bit to even figure out why he was being overprotective but I understood it a lot more once I finally made him talk to me about it. Has he said anything to you about Yue?”

The name rang a distant bell in Zuko’s mind. It was a Water Tribe name, he knew, although not a particularly common one. It was probably feminine although Zuko was never quite sure with Water Tribe names as the vast majority of them ended in soft, rolling vowel sounds more commonly used in girl names within the Fire Nation. He had definitely heard it before, somewhere, but he didn’t think Sokka had ever said it. But Sokka had mentioned a girlfriend to him back on the war balloon, when they had been trying to bound.

“Is that the one who turned into the moon?” Zuko asked quietly, slightly unsure. He was only just beginning to realize, once the words were out of his mouth, how awkward it would be if Yue turned out to be Sokka’s mother or a great aunt or even his father, and Zuko had just revealed Sokka’s late girlfriend to Sokka’s current girlfriend.

But Suki just nodded, a faint look of surprise briefly passing over her face as though she hadn’t quite believed Sokka would have mentioned his dead – was she even technically dead? Or did someone who transformed into a spirit never actually die? Zuko was rough on his spiritlore at the best of times but he didn’t think even Uncle would have had an answer to that question – girlfriend to a former enemy. “Yeah. Sokka told me he felt guilty because he was supposed to protect her and he felt like he’d failed. I think it was even worse with her, because she was an omega and wasn’t trained to fight, but he was still determined to not let anything happen to me because –“ she paused again and Zuko was surprised to see a faint flush run across her lightly tanned cheeks.

But Zuko could connect the obvious dots behind her words. Even if he hadn’t been stationed at the door during their reunion, he had definitely seen the way Sokka looked at Suki and the way she looked back. “Because he cares about you the same way he cared about her.” He finished for her. Her cheeks flushed petal pink as she nodded. “Obviously, that’s not the case for me,” he continued, determined not to dwell on the awkwardness that accompanied talking about emotions with a near stranger. “It’s not like we’ve been around each other enough to like each other, let alone…those kinds of feelings.” Zuko’s own cheeks went warm. “Not that he’d ever even feel that way for anyone when he has you,” he was quick to add. Girls, in Zuko’s experience, didn’t like the idea that there might be other people their significant other was attracted to. Mai had been downright murderous when she thought Zuko might have been looking at other alphas and they hadn’t even been really dating. And he himself had helped Azula burn down that jerk beta’s Ember Island home after he blew her off at that terrible party.

“Oh sure,” Suki responded a bit too quickly, her own cheeks still rosy. There was an odd tone in her voice that Zuko didn’t quite understand but at least she seemed just as determined to avoid too many emotions as he was. “It’s probably something else. I just know that for me, it was about Yue, and talking to him helped.”

Zuko had already tried the talking to Sokka route and, although he had thought it had helped at the time, it obviously hadn’t. Still, maybe if he knew what Suki had said to reassure Sokka, he would know where he went wrong. As loathe as he was to continue talking about anything that skirted too close to feelings, he asked, “what did you say?”

“Well,” Suki seemed to think for a moment, “reminding him that I was a trained and experienced warrior and that it was okay to worry as long as he didn’t let it consume him helped. And reminding him that I wasn’t some poor defenseless omega definitely didn’t hurt.” She added, almost as an afterthought, and Zuko had to fight to keep his face neutral.

“Hah, right.” He said, trying to keep his voice as natural as possible. “I’ll talk to him then, see if that helps.” He purposely didn’t tack on the “again” that was echoing in his head.

Talking didn’t seem to work for him, but maybe if he followed Suki’s first advice – straight up sending Sokka on his ass – would work. It would certainly make him feel better anyway.

“Yeah, maybe,” Suki said, her voice unsure. “Sorry I couldn’t help more,” she added awkwardly. Zuko just shrugged.

“No, no. You helped… a lot.” Suki looked unconvinced at his less than reassuring tone and he quickly tacked on, “really!”

That didn’t seem to help much and he closed his mouth before he could dig himself any deeper. For a moment, he thought the girl was going to start pressing him for more information – he could tell she was burning with unasked questions and unanswered questions – but she merely looked at him for a moment longer, an inquisitive gleam in her eyes, before dropping her gaze and turning to pick up her abandoned mop.

Zuko was all too happy to follow her lead and they fell into an awkward silence as they pretended to carefully mop over the small area once more, their ears perked for either the sound of Sokka’s returning footsteps or the yells of guards warning them to finish up before time ran out.

It was surprising, given their unfortunate history how unworried he was to be around her. Perhaps his mind was too filled with anger at Sokka and suspicion towards Chit Sang, but Zuko felt nothing but mild embarrassment around the warrior girl. It wasn’t that she didn’t seem a threat – she most definitely was, and probably an even bigger one than Chit Sang when it came to trained strength – but rather that there seemed to be no subterfuge, no hidden ulterior motive for her.

If Suki was going to stab him, it would be in the front, and for Zuko, raised around sly lies and carefully-crafted half trues, that was a comfort.

* * *

Sokka fought to keep his fingers from trembling as he made his way carefully into an empty workroom. Part of him – the roaring, protective part that _never_ shut up when it was supposed to – didn’t want to find a wrench. How easy it would be to return to the others, say he tried his best, shrug and come up with a new, safer for Zuko plan. But another part of him – the part that knew he had royally messed up with Zuko yet again, the part that knew, logically, Zuko could handle this, the part that knew this plan was the best they were going to get and if he messed up this one, he wouldn’t be saving Zuko from anything – held the impulse in check as he made his way purposely towards the metal cabinets at the very end of the room.

One of the first things Sokka had learned when sneaking around with Aang and Katara in their earliest adventurers was that confidence was key when moving around a place he wasn’t supposed to be in. The slower one was, the more unsure they looked, the easier it was to tell they didn’t belong and the quicker they would be caught. Sokka didn’t let himself slow down as he crossed the room, forced his fingers not to stumble as he pulled out the small ring of keys he’d gotten from another guard, and made sure to beat back the urge to furtively check around the room – he _knew_ it was empty – as he opened the drawer.

Any hope – and there was some no matter how much Sokka tried to bury it – that he would be unsuccessful was dashed immediately. There, at the very front just waiting for his fingers to snatch it away, was a perfectly sized wrench. Pushing aside all the useless, stupid disappointment – Sokka should be _happy_ that his plan was going so smoothly – that tried to flood through him, Sokka grabbed the wrench and stuffed it discreetly into his waistband before quickly slamming the drawer shut once more.

One of the other things Sokka had quickly learned while sneaking around with Aang and Katara was to know that, once the object of his sneaking had been acquired, it was time to set aside the first rule and get out as soon as possible before any enemy had the chance to catch him. Sokka knew this lesson well and he wasted no time relocking the drawer and scurrying out of the room before resuming a more regular pace once the door had shut behind him.

With the wrench a cold weight against his back and a heavy dread in his stomach, Sokka made his way back to the others as quickly as possible. He didn’t know their schedule well enough to know where Suki and Zuko would end up once their worktime had finished and they had already used a terrifying amount of their precious time arguing with Chit Sang and each other.

Would it really be so bad if he didn’t make it time? Zuko was already furious with him, it wasn’t like that would change even if he came back before they separated. Perhaps the time it took to find them all again would be enough to come up with a safer, easier alternative to the cooler plan?

It was a half-hearted idea, born more from plain reluctance than from any actual thought, and it was quickly banished when Sokka began making his way down the now familiar metal staircase, slamming his feet more than he normally would. Zuko and Suki were still near where he had left him and both looked up as he stormed down the stairs. Sokka hadn’t even bothered to entertain the idea that Zuko’s anger had abated any and that had proved a prudent decision as the other boy’s face darkened into a ferocious scowl and he gripped the mop in his hand so tightly Sokka was surprised it didn’t snap in his hand.

Suki, blessed sweet Suki, at least seemed happy to see Sokka – doubly so when he gave a small nod to her questioning gaze. “I’ll get Chit Sang.” Zuko announced without preamble before Sokka had even finished the stairs and he turned on his heel without a second glance, well before Sokka could get a word out. He watched him go without a fight, inwardly wincing at the cold fury in the other boy’s voice.

Zuko _definitely_ hadn’t forgiven him any. He wouldn’t be surprised if the other boy was plotting his demise with every step he made away from him.

“Do _you_ want to talk about that?” Suki asked, turning her gaze to him the moment Zuko was out of earshot.

Sokka most definitely did _not_. Even if he had been sure Suki would be on his side – and he wasn’t at all that she would, it wasn’t as though Suki’s stance on omegas had ever come up – his complete freak out over Zuko was not something he really wanted to talk about with anyone. Let alone, his sort-of girlfriend. “Talk about what?” He asked in a voice that was several octaves too high to be casual. Suki looked unamused and unconvinced as she folded her arms over her chest.

“Well, for one, you come to me in a Fire Nation uniform and announce that the Fire Prince – who I last saw when he was _burning_ _down_ my entire village – was now on our side and we were breaking out together, and then when said fire prince agrees to a crucial part of the plan that _only_ he could do, you go all alpha and _forbid_ him from doing it!” Suki’s voice was almost conversational but Sokka still winced. It was hardly ever a good thing when Suki was calling him an alpha. Still, he did not want to have this conversation, no matter how angry it made her.

It seemed Suki had plenty to fill the silence. “Since when do you forbid anyone from anything, Sokka?” She demanded. From experience, Sokka knew he was about half a second away from being yelled and that was something they couldn’t risk. He had to respond, no matter how much his mind screamed that this was a trap.

“I didn’t forbid him!” Sokka argued back weakly as he glanced to the side. He didn’t think he would be hoping for Zuko to appear back so soon but he would take the former prince’s anger over Suki’s. Zuko at least feared looking like the bad guy again enough to probably not slap Sokka aside the head but Suki had no such concern. “I never said ‘forbid!’” he added at Suki’s disbelieving scoff.

“You said just about everything but!” She said scornfully. Sokka knew she was right – he knew he had been in the wrong and that yet another apology to Zuko was definitely in order – but he couldn’t just come out and say that without revealing why he had said anything against Zuko in the first place. Suki must have read the hesitation on his face because she continued speaking before he had a chance to come up with a response, her voice hard. “Look, I don’t know why you’re acting weird around Zuko but I do know he’s probably about one wrong comment away from punching you in the face and I _will_ help him do it.” The threat was clear in her voice and Sokka gave her a tense nod.

He couldn’t exactly say he didn’t deserve a punch to the face, after all. 

Suki probably would have continued glaring at Sokka but at that moment, Zuko returned with the looming figure of Chit Sang following close behind him. Sokka didn’t think he’d have ever been relieved to feel the heat of the former prince’s glare on him but it was more familiar than Suki’s and there was a strange comfort in that.

Zuko didn’t say a thing as he held an expectant hand out towards Sokka. He hesitated less than a second before reluctantly reaching behind himself to pull the wrench out of his waistband. He thought about saying something – anything – as he set the tool carefully into Zuko’s pale hand but the other boy was turning away the moment the cold steel had touched his palm. “We need a distraction,” he said to Chit Sang, a deceptively calm tone in his raspy voice. The older man grinned.

“That, I can do.” He said and Sokka absolutely did not approve of his tone. He sounded far, far too eager to start something with Zuko. Before Sokka could express his doubts, Zuko was nodding and stalking off. Sokka could only watch with badly disguised horror as the two firebenders quickly orchestrated an altercation.

Sokka could barely contain himself from jumping in when Chit Sang put his meaty hands on Zuko and lifted him from the floor. It was only Suki’s hand flying out and clenching his upper arm tightly that kept him in his place when Zuko landed heavily back onto the floor and began shouting at Chit Sang. As much as Sokka hated it, he had to admit that Zuko wasn’t that terrible of an actor. Or perhaps he was simply channeling his anger at Sokka as he shoved Chit Sang hard enough to send the larger man several feet back.

Sokka’s nerves spiked when Chit Sang began wrestling with Zuko and not even Suki could stop him from rushing forward when he threw Zuko to the ground once more. So concerned for Zuko, he barely kept enough presence of mind to stop himself from breaking the fight up prematurely. Zuko needed to firebend or he’d simply be sent back to his cell rather than the cooler and they would have to wait for another chance.

It didn’t take long. Zuko swung himself back up and out of the way of Chit Sang’s next swing and suddenly fire was bursting from Zuko’s outstretched fist and barreling towards Chit Sang’s feet. The older man jumped out of the way before the fire could come close to sparking against him but the damage was already done. Before Chit Sang was even back on the ground, a guard was yelling about the firebending and two more had raced forward to snatch Zuko.

Every nerve in Sokka’s body screamed to do something, anything to stop Zuko from being dragged out of the room but he forced himself to stay, to stand still and let it happen once more.

This was how they got out, he had to remind himself.

This was how Suki got out, how Zuko got out.

This was how they became safe.

They would be safe.

He wished, desperately, the words didn’t feel so hollow but they all fell flat compared to the absolute horror rising up inside him as Zuko disappeared from view.

* * *

The past hour had been one of the most excruciatingly slow Sokka had ever experienced. The moment Zuko had disappeared, another guard had stepped forward to grab onto Chit Sang and drag him back into his cell. The taller man had left willingly, a pleased smirk on his face, and Sokka had dug his nails into his palm so hard he broke the skin but it had been worth it to stop himself from lunging forward to wipe the expression from the smug man’s face.

Everything would have been so much better if the selfish jerk had just gone into the cooler himself and the few hours of solitary confinement he was about to be subjected to was not nearly a big enough punishment. But Sokka had to keep a calm demeanor and so he forced himself to watch impassively as Chit Sang was led out of the courtyard.

That had left just him and Suki. She had caught his eye and gave a small, curt nod – the only reassurance she could give him in a room full of enemies – and Sokka had returned it with a slight dip of his head. He would have loved nothing more than to stay near her and soak in the fact that at least she was safe and out of harm’s way but that was impossible. A loud, shrieking bell rang out, indicating that it was time for a guard shift change, and Sokka had no choice but to quickly whisper where Suki should meet him later before leaving her behind to follow the rest of the guards out.

He ended up overseeing the courtyard, an unfortunately easy position as none of the prisoners seemed keen to lose their outside privileges. That meant he had plenty of time for his mind to explore the absolute worst possibilities as the minutes dragged on slowly.

Zuko had only been in the thin, threadbare uniform of the Boiling Rock prison; the exposed skin was probably already tinged red from the bitter cold. Were his fingers turning blue the way Gran Gran had always warned Sokka to watch out for whenever he tried to play outside without his fur-lined gloves?

Sokka knew firebenders were more susceptible to the cold; how long did Zuko have until the cold settled beneath his bones? Were his lungs fighting against the bitter cold? Was every breath he took stabbing agony? Was he still shivering or had he passed the point of no return?

That was a ridiculous thought, Sokka knew. This wasn’t the dangerous icy tundra he had called home, where a single wrong turn in a winter flurry could prove fatal, and Zuko wasn’t about to freeze to death in a controlled room in a Fire Nation prison in the middle of a boiling lake. There was no way the warden would allow that, no way he would allow his most important prisoner to die so easily. No way would he even approve of permanent damage, without explicit permission from the Fire Lord.

And the Fire Lord wouldn’t give that, would he? Even as evil as the Fire Lord was, even as poorly as he had treated his only son, he wouldn’t do anything to permanently damage his son, would he?

Sokka wasn’t so sure but he had no choice to cling to that flimsy excuse as he restlessly paced around the upper terrace of the courtyard. It was that or assume the worst and Sokka knew he would quickly reach his breaking point if he allowed himself to. So he forced the intrusive thoughts out as well as he could and when the hour had finally, millimeter by millimeter, passed by he gratefully left his porch and made his way, as calmly as he could force himself to be, towards the coolers.

It was ridiculously easy to talk his way into being the one to release Zuko. None of the other guards, even the nonbending ones, were willing to walk into the coolers and once Sokka insinuated, with an icy anger turning his stomach inside and out, that he wanted some “alone time” with the prisoner to make sure the lesson “really sunk in” he was left completely alone outside Zuko’s cell.

It took every inch of willpower in his body to open the large metal door separating him from Zuko slowly – never before had he envied Toph’s ability to simply rip through metal as much as he did those thirty seconds it took for the door to unlock and open for him. The icy blast that met Sokka was sharp enough to send a shiver done his spine but he embraced it as he stepped forward into the threshold.

The sight of Zuko, looking so small in the center of the tiny room his head bowed and his body curled in on itself, was enough to send a spike of panic through Sokka’s entire body. Before he had even realized what he was doing – or could think better about how anyone, let alone an omega, would react to an unknown alpha coming up on them alone in a cooler – he was two steps in and reaching out towards the other boy.

Zuko lifted his head before Sokka’s fingers could graze his shoulder and even if the fierce burning in his golden eyes hadn’t been enough to make Sokka snatch his fingers back, the small burst of flame that issued from the other boy’s mouth most definitely was.

“Wha-“ Sokka let out as he took a swift half-step back. He had never seen a firebender breathe fire directly from their mouth – had never even imagined it was _possible_ – but Zuko had done it casually, with ease, as though he had never breathed any other way in his life.

Before Sokka could get over his surprise or even just the fact that Zuko looked _ridiculously stupidly awesomely cool what the hell,_ the flames were gone and Zuko was staring at him with burning eyes and a raised eyebrow. Remembering himself and what he was supposed to say, Sokka straightened up and cleared his throat.

"I’m here to escort you back to your cell, if you learned your lesson.” He spoke loudly and officially; he was pretty certain that the guards who had been stationed in front of the cooler were a fair distance away – they needed deniability for whatever state Zuko left the cooler in – but it was better to be safe than to have them overhear anything incriminating.

Zuko didn’t say anything at Sokka’s words – Sokka didn’t know if he was supposed to or if it was only him that was keeping the audible part of their charade – but he moved his arms away from his chest, revealing a large amount of bolts and screws tucked neatly into his shirt. He had done exactly what he was supposed to and he didn’t even look like the frigid air had any effect on him. Even Chit Sang with his hulking frame and borderline arrogant personality had looked worse for wear after his stint in the cooler but Zuko seemed more bothered by Sokka’s presence than he was the cold biting and nipping at his exposed flesh.

Zuko was perfectly fine, just like he had said he would be, and more so, he had done the job far more effectively than Chit Sang probably would have. Sokka owed the other boy a double apology.

“Zuko I –“ he began, a hot flash of shame curling in his stomach. He really had acted like a complete jerk earlier for no good reason and the only correct thing to do was apologize and hope that Zuko didn’t decide to punch him in the nose. Before he could get much more than the other boy’s name out, however, Zuko was lunging forward and Sokka was bracing himself for a justified hit.

It didn’t come – Zuko had lunged for the door, bolts and screws hurling to the ground everywhere, and was sliding it shut as quickly as possible. “Someone’s coming!” He hissed in his rough voice and Sokka immediately dropped so that he was out of sight from the small slit in the door.

Could it be the guards from earlier? Sokka doubted it – Sokka had agreed to take Zuko back to his cell as payment for the few minutes of alone time, there would be no reason for them to come back down this hallway. It had to be someone new, probably escorting another firebender into one of the tiny torture rooms.

Zuko dropped low next to Sokka, a full scowl now on his face as he went around picking up the bolts from the frozen floor and pointedly not looking his way at all, and Sokka realized he had more pressing concerns than a few stray guards outside.

Namely the fact that, for the next foreseeable future, he was locked in a frozen room with an irate former Fire prince.

A _fire-breathing_ , irate former fire prince.

* * *

Zuko kept his body low as he swiftly picked up the bolts that had scattered all across the icy floor. It would be all over for all of them if movements caught the incoming guards’ eyes and so – even though he really would have rather done anything else – he had no choice but to drop besides Sokka once all the wayward bolts had been found.

Zuko hadn’t really paid attention to how small the room was – the bitter cold was a far more preeminent threat even with his uncle’s breathing trick – but now, forced to sit so close to the other boy that they were nearly touching and Zuko could feel the heat coming off Sokka’s body, he had no choice but to notice it.

It was kind of funny, in that sort of terrible way things tended to not at all be funny for Zuko, that the only times he had been alone – truly alone, not like that pretend alone he had with Mai where his father’s guards were just out of sight, ready and willing to do anything should the alpha girl step out of line, - with an unrelated alpha, he had to curb the desire to punch him in the face. Azula would probably have gotten a laugh out of the situation at any right; at least right before she reported him to their father for inappropriate behavior.

Zuko had been warned many times by his tutors to never allow himself in a situation like this and yet, even with the sharp cold biting at his exposed skin – he didn’t dare try to summon fire with his breathing again as the roar of anger that had accompanied Sokka’s appearance meant he was nowhere near the level of calm required to not accidentally burn himself – he felt no desire to get close to the other boy the way his tutors warned him that he might if he ever found himself alone with an unmated alpha.

Just another way Zuko failed at being a proper omega, he supposed. Sokka was probably disappointed.

It didn’t matter. Zuko wouldn’t have acted on any of those feelings even if he felt them – Sokka was practically mated to Suki, that was clear for anyone to see, and more importantly, he was a complete _ass_. 

The faint footsteps that had warned Zuko of the approaching enemies were growing louder, dragging him away from his thoughts and back to the issue at hand, and Zuko’s body went taut at the threat of a fight.

“New arrivals coming in at dawn.” One voice said, its tone conversational. Zuko sucked in a breath as he felt Sokka tense beside him.

“Anyone interesting?” Another voice responded, sounding only mildly interested.

“Nah, just the usual.” The first voice responded, now so loud that they must have been right outside the door. One false move, one breath too loud, and they would be upon them. Zuko braced himself for the altercation. Then, slightly quieter as though they were already walking away, the voice continued, “some robbers, couple of traitors, and some war prisoners.”

Zuko froze as Sokka took a sharp breath beside him.

War prisoners were not an uncommon sight in any Fire Nation prison - not when someone could be considered a dissident for breathing wrong towards a portrait of the Fire Lord – but most of them were held in normal, low security prisons. Only important prisoners of war were brought to and kept in a place like the Boiling Rock. The leader of the Kyoshi Warriors. The former Fire Prince.

The chief of the Southern Water Tribe.

The possibility was almost terrible. What were the odds that, so close to their escape, the object of their whole mission would suddenly appear?

Even in his anger, Zuko couldn’t help but feel a swoop of pity for the boy besides him. He knew how awful, how helpless he had felt, when he had arrived too late to free his uncle and that was with Uncle having freed himself. He couldn’t imagine how he would have felt if he had been given this sort of choice – to escape with the possibility of his uncle being so close to him or to give up the opportunity for escape on the slim hope that he could get to him.

Zuko knew what he would have chosen in Sokka’s shoes, just as much as he knew what the other boy – the boy who had yet to say a word, the boy sitting so still it was as though he was truly frozen into place – would choose.

Zuko’s fist clenched sharply against the icy steel in his hand.

It was laughable, almost, that he and Sokka had gotten into such a large fight over a plan that was, in the end, useless to them.

The guards would notice the missing bolts long before the new prisoners arrived in the morning. They would need to come up with a new plan.

Sokka was staying, after all, on the hopes of rescuing his father and there was no way Zuko was leaving him behind to get himself killed. Even if Sokka didn’t quite know that yet.

* * *

The silence that had fallen upon the two boys continued to weigh on them as Sokka and Zuko worked together to force the cooler out of its place in the wall. Sokka’s movements were mechanical, almost instinctive as he maneuvered around Zuko and the other boy was likewise silent as he followed Sokka’s lead. He was still angry – Sokka hadn’t spent his childhood out on the icy sea not to know when a storm was brewing beside him– but it was clear that the other boy was holding it in check in light of the news.

And what news it was.

Sokka’s father, his _dad,_ was quite possibly on his way to him right at that moment. Shackled, likely half-starved, maybe half-beaten, and dressed in the too-thin, raggedy clothes of a Fire Nation prisoner; his _father_ might, at that very moment, be closer to him than he had since their failed invasion.

Sokka might be able to see him, might still be able to rescue him. And all he had to do was wait a day.

But a day, even just the night, would require so much sacrifice. If left alone, the missing cooler would be discovered before the new prisoners’ arrival – at the most, they only had until the nightly check before the sabotage was uncovered and that was easily twelve hours before the prisoners could be expected to arrive. The others would have to leave without him – Zuko would be able to lead Suki back to the others safely and release Chit Sang to wherever the big man wanted to go.

Sokka would have to give up the only certain plan he had to leaving the prison.

It was a terrifying prospect. A large sacrifice and an even greater gamble. His father would probably be furious to know he was even considering risking his safety for him.

But Sokka had already risked his safety by breaking into the prison in the first place, what was one more day? His father was a brilliant tactician, they’d have a new plan in no time.

But that would mean leaving Zuko and Suki on their own. They hardly even knew each other and, Suki’s threat to back Zuko in a fight aside, there was no guarantee they’d get along and, without a war balloon or a giant sky bison to take them back, the trip to the air temple would take days. What if they started fighting along the way and got caught? What would happen to a major prisoner of war and a traitor after getting caught escaping an impenetrable prison? Sokka was pretty sure their second punishment wouldn’t be nearly as lenient as an indefinite prison sentence in the middle of a volcano.

Sokka wouldn’t be just risking himself if he stayed; he’d be risking them.

He’d be risking _Zuko_.

He remembered being told once, when he was so young that he hardly came to his father’s waist, being told the story of Avatar Kuruk and his fiancée. He remembered his father’s melodious voice as he detailed Kuruk’s failure and greatest shame, how he had been smug and arrogant, overly complacent, how he had failed to protect Ummi from the Face Stealer because he had thought no harm would come to an omega that was to be mated to the avatar, how he had failed as an alpha by allowing her on a dangerous trip alone. He remembered the sudden sternness in his father’s voice as he asked Sokka if he understood the lesson behind Kuruk’s failure.

That omegas needed to be protected had been ingrained in nearly every aspect of Sokka’s upbringing; that Sokka needed to protect any around him had been ingrained ever since he had presented. Sokka’s father would be furious if he knew that Sokka was even considering leaving Zuko to lead Suki back on his own. Sokka didn’t think that his father would even care that Zuko was a fully trained warrior in his own right - although the Southern Water Tribe wasn’t nearly as set in their ways as the Northern, there were still traditions men like his father followed and protecting omegas was right at the top.

So on top of risking his safety and his friend’s safety on the chance of maybe seeing his father again, he was also risking a _serious_ lecture.

On top of the one he just knew Katara was preparing for him back at the temple.

There were a _lot_ of risks to consider.

Zuko remained silent as they finally got the cooler out and began carefully rolling it down the cliff of the island and Sokka didn’t know if the other boy’s obvious effort to give him space was a blessing or a curse. He knew Zuko had been ready and rearing for another fight and part of him yearned for the distraction. The short trek to where he had whispered for Suki to get Chit Sang and meet with them felt longer than all the time he’d spent walking across the Serpent’s Path despite how much speed the cooler picked up as they forced it down the cliff and Sokka was almost grateful for nearly ramming into Suki and Chit Sang on the shore of the island.

He was not at all grateful for the two additional people standing far closer to the lapping waves of the Boiling Lake than anyone with sense would.

“This is my girl and my best friend,” Chit Sang introduced with preamble as the cooler finally came to a stop.

"Fine, whatever.” Sokka answered back, uncaring as Suki raced forward to help him and Zuko turn the cooler around and push it into the hissing water.

The moment to decide had come far too soon. Did he stay and hope his father was on his way to the island or did he go and return back to his sister and friends with Suki and Zuko?

Sokka was frozen, unsure, his thoughts a wild tempest as they whipped around in his head, some urging him to go and others begging him to stay behind.

It took him slightly too long to realize that Zuko had no such hesitation.

“Go north,” he was telling Suki when his low voice had finally cut through Sokka’s whirlwind thoughts. “About two days’ of sailing and you’ll get to the mountains. You’ll find the others there. There should be some inhabited islands along the way you can drop those –“ he jerked his head towards the three Fire Nation prisoners – “off at. They’re Fire Nation, but the northern islands have always been a bit less controlled than the main islands, most won’t even bat at an eye at a couple of prisoners as long as they don’t cause trouble.”

Sokka was lost. Why was Zuko telling Suki this? Why was he acting like Suki would be making the journey back on her own? Surely Zuko wasn’t planning –

As though drawn to his thoughts, the two other teenagers were suddenly looking his way. Suki seemed worried but Zuko’s expression was guarded, expectant.

The realization hit Sokka like a playful Appa on bath days.

Zuko thought Sokka had already made up his mind.

Zuko thought Sokka was staying behind. Thought he was going to wait it out on the slim chance that he might be able to save his father. 

Zuko thought he was going to stay behind with Sokka. On the slim chance that he might help rescue Sokka’s father.

Despite being furious at him, despite Sokka having messed up over and over again with the former prince, he was still willing to risk his life to help save his father.

And just like that, Sokka knew his decision.

He couldn’t let Zuko make that risk.

He had to go.

He didn’t even know if his father was going to be at the prison.

He wouldn’t gamble with Zuko or Suki’s freedom like that.

He made to go to the crevice he had hidden his clothing in, his steps loud as his heart hammered at this blatant act of betrayal.

He almost didn’t hear Suki and Zuko’s footsteps as they immediately followed him.

He did hear Zuko’s raspy voice demand, “what are you doing?” as he pulled out the familiar blue cloth.

He ignored him. He didn’t want to fight, not now when half his mind was screaming at him, swearing he was making a mistake. Not when his heart felt like a lead weight in his chest. He made to turn, made to go off and change back into his old clothing but he was stopped by a pale outstretched arm just inches from him.

“What are you doing?” Zuko repeated, his voice low and threatening. Sokka kept his gaze on the ground as he responded.

"Getting ready to go.” He answered, his voice carefully neutral. Perhaps if he feigned indifference, Zuko would accept it without a fight.

“Without your father?” The other boy demanded, sending Sokka’s half-hearted hopes to avoid a fight up in smoke. “We came here to save him and now you’re just walking away?” The other boy continued and Sokka could feel the temperature around him spike dangerously.

Sokka had always considered his temperament reasonable. Sure, he was prone to some excitable outbursts but when one grows up with a little sister capable of flinging around magic water and then befriends the Avatar and sets off on an adventure to end a century long war, a few outburst were both expected and understandable. He wasn’t like his sister, capable of flipping his temper like a coin.

He was a reasonable, calm, and experienced almost man. But even the most reasonable men had their breaking points and, after staying in a hell of a prison for nearly two days, after fighting with Zuko and worrying about his safety, after having his emotions stretched and twisted at every turn – not finding his father, reuniting with Suki, making the choice to leave before he could find his father again – he had more than reached his.

His temper snapped.

He was in Zuko’s face before he could think better of it. “Yes!” His arms flailed wildly as he threw them out, causing Zuko to pull his back before he got hit, “Yes, okay? I’m leaving. I’m leaving because I need to get Suki out of here, I need to get you out of here! I’m leaving because I can’t risk jeopardizing saving people more than I already have over the mere chance that my father will be here tomorrow!” He was shouting; he was standing at the base of an enemy prison with five escaped prisoners and he was shouting loud enough to draw any and all attention. He knew Chit Sang and his friends were watching, he knew _Suki_ was watching but he didn’t care. It felt good, cathartic even, to let out some of the tension that had been threatening to break him apart.

"We only came here on the _chance_ your father would be here!” And now Zuko was raising his voice to match his, sparks shooting from his fingers in a way that would have concerned Sokka if his mind had room for anything other than pure, frustrated rage. “He’s your _father_!” Zuko yelled as though Sokka needed reminding of the simple truth.

"What do _you_ even know about fathers?” Sokka regretted the words the moment they were out of his mouth, before he even heard the soft gasp from Suki or the low whistle from Chit Sang, he regretted them. They were needlessly cruel, crueler than anything Sokka had ever said before and the shock that they came from him – that _he_ had actually said such bitter words – was enough to stop him short. His arms were still out, his heart still thudding with anger now mixed with shock, but no more words poured from his mouth as he stared at the boy in front of him.

Zuko’s eyes were wide with shock; he looked as though Sokka had slapped him. Before Sokka could even begin to apologize, to begin to take back those horrifying words, however, Zuko’s expression was fading into a carefully neutral expression. When he spoke, it was the softest voice Sokka had ever heard him speak in, “I don’t have a good idea about fathers, but I do know my uncle. And I know I could never live with myself if I had the chance to save him and I didn’t.”

With those words ringing in Sokka’s ears, Zuko turned and walked back to the cooler, his light footsteps nearly silent on the rough shore.

Sokka watched him go; his guilt – both for those words he could never take back and for his father he hadn’t yet been able to save – weighed on his heart like a stone. Sokka was not like this; he was not vicious or cruel, he didn’t scream at people and hurl abuse.

And he didn’t leave someone behind.

Perhaps he would regret this. There was a very good chance he was throwing his chance for freedom away on an empty hope. But Zuko was right.

If he left now, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself.

Before he could think twice, before he could let logic reinsert itself and get the better of him, Sokka stepped forward towards Zuko. He lifted his hand as though to place it on Zuko’s shoulder. For a moment, no words could come to him – what could he say that would begin to erase the hurt he knew he caused? There were none. Sokka let his hand drop before it came too close to the other boy; he knew Zuko would not welcome his touch.

“You’re right.” He said, his quiet voice echoing across the shore. Zuko tensed in front of him but didn’t turn around. Sokka hadn’t expected him to but he still had to swallow around a lump in his throat to force the rest of his words out. “You’re right,” he repeated, “I’m going to stay. I’m going to stay and rescue my dad.”

At that, finally, Zuko turned around. Sokka braced himself for a lashing or even just a simple ‘I told you so’ but the other boy didn’t even look at him and his golden gaze landed on something just behind Sokka’s shoulder. It was Suki – Sokka hadn’t even felt her creep up behind him but he recognized her lightly calloused touch as she placed a gentle hand on his bare arm. Something passed silently between the two – Sokka had no idea what, had no idea when they would have even had the chance to become close enough for silent communication – and Zuko’s eyes narrowed slightly as he gave a tiny, brisk nod.

Sokka had no idea what it was about but whatever it was made Suki gently squeeze his arm.

“We’re staying too,” she said, her voice an odd mixture of matter-of-fact and encouraging. “We’ll help you get your dad.”

And well, Sokka wasn’t stupid enough to argue with Suki.

Even though her words sent a horrifying feeling of unease crawling down his spine.

And even though Zuko still refused to look him in the eye. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I apologize for the delay - my family is mostly moved in but now I've started a full-time job so my time is more limited. I do still plan on continuing this series - Zuko and Sokka have a full suite rent-free in my mind - but it will take a longer to get more work out. I also took off the chapter count on this story - I keep expanding it anyway and it felt dishonest when I know the direction this is taking and where it's going to go but not how much longer it will be. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it and I hope to have the next bit up as soon as possible!


	5. Chapter 5

Zuko was hardly surprised when Chit Sang and his two cronies opted to leave without them. It was expected – they didn’t know each other in the slightest and owed each other absolutely nothing – and almost a relief to watch the massive man jump into the cooler along with the girl and other man. It was one less person for him to be wary of, one less loose string that could unravel everything. Plus, it wasn’t like he had sat in that cooler and pried all the bolts lose for fun; it was better that someone find some use for it and it wasn’t like they could easily put it back and pretend it had never been gone anyway.

He was sure Suki felt the same, judging by how much her expression cleared as they helped give the cooler a meaningful shove before turning away to begin the trek back up into the prison. It was odd how easily he seemed to be able to read her. He had met her officially a day ago and yet, felt more at ease with her than any of the other people he had been around since joining with the Avatar.

With the possible exception of Toph, but Toph was an entity in her own right and Zuko didn’t think she would appreciate knowing he was comparing her to anyone.

Perhaps it was that Suki reminded him of Mai and Ty Lee, in a way. She wasn’t nearly as serious as his ex-possible-fiancee nor quite as bubbly as Ty Lee, but she was just as deadly, just as disciplined and her presence was like a calming balm against all his frayed edges.

It was strange, unusual. It probably would have sent him into a paranoid panic in any other situation – it wasn’t like any good had ever come from him lowering his guard before – but he was hardly in a normal situation and it was nice to have one steadying thing in a sea of uncertainty.

It also helped that Suki was the perfect buffer between him and Sokka and her presence between them kept Zuko from dwelling too much on the other boy.

Zuko had known he was pushing too hard, had known from the look in the boy’s blue eyes that he was nearing his breaking point, but he still hadn’t expected the sting of Sokka’s words.

It wasn’t like the boy had said anything Zuko didn’t already know, it wasn’t like it was the worst thing Zuko had ever even had thrown in his face – his own father had said much worse – and it wasn’t even untrue. Zuko had no experience with fathers – not good ones at least – except for Uncle. He knew that his father was not a good man, knew that Sokka probably had a much better relationship with his own dad than Zuko could ever had dreamed of even before his banishment. He knew that, if the situations were reversed, he would leave his father to rot even though that probably made him a bad son.

He knew that, knew the truth of Sokka’s words.

That hadn’t stopped them from hurting.

Hadn’t stopped the sudden sharp pain of them from cutting into him, hadn’t stopped the way his breath seemed to catch in his throat because he – stupidly, stupidly – hadn’t expected them.

Even though they were very recent allies, even though they had been fighting harshly ever since they had taken this stupid, ill-planned trip, Zuko hadn’t expected Sokka to do anything to hurt him. Sokka, like almost all of the Avatar’s friends, seemed far too nice to lay out the same types of abuse Zuko had faced since he was a child. He had harmful views about omegas, of course, but he wasn’t a cruel person.

Zuko should have known that if anyone was capable of bringing out the worst of any of the Avatar’s friends, it would be him. It was his fault – he would readily admit that he was brash and violent and that there was something pungent about him that just made everyone want to tell him terrible things and he had pushed Sokka hard to get him to stay behind. Zuko didn’t regret pushing the other boy – he knew Sokka would regret not staying behind, knew that the mystery of it would eat at him and leave guilt festering in the wounds. Zuko would do it again even knowing the words the other boy would spew at him.

That didn’t make it any easier to look Sokka in the eye.

It was in tense silence that the three slipped back into the prison and Zuko was beyond grateful when Sokka – who was walking slightly ahead just in case they ran into anyone – turned in the direction of the men’s cells. He would almost happily take the silence of his dark cell over walking alone with Sokka.

Suki bid him a quiet goodnight as Sokka opened the cell door that was quickly becoming more familiar than it ever should have and Zuko inclined his head slightly in acknowledgment as he walked into the tiny room, careful as ever not to brush against Sokka’s warm skin as he passed him.

Sokka, notably, didn’t say anything as he slid the heavy metal door shut behind Zuko. Whether the other boy had even looked at him as he locked him in with the set of keys he had wisely kept a hold of, Zuko had no way of knowing. He hadn’t turned around.

He didn’t know if it would have been better or worse if Sokka had looked at him and that uncertainty – useless, worthless though it was because it didn’t matter what Sokka was feeling, Zuko _knew_ he had done the right thing – bit at him as he moved forward in the now pitch-black cell and slid onto the thin mattress in the corner.

It was stupid, incredibly stupid, how hurt Zuko still felt about the words.

They were just a distraction, thinking about them wouldn’t make them go away, wouldn’t make Sokka never say them. Zuko had far more important things to worry about.

Such as coming up with a brand-new escape plan. Even if Sokka’s father wasn’t one of the prisoners of war, they still had to escape.

And soon. 

Because even though he didn’t dare say anything in front of Sokka, Zuko knew his time was running out.

The warden would have no choice but to inform his father soon.

If Zuko was still in the prison when his father was told, it was all over

He would not make it out of the Boiling Rock alive. 

* * *

Sokka felt like shit.

He felt like complete and utter polardog shit.

He left Suki in her cell without a word – he hadn’t said much since agreeing to stay behind – and made the slow walk to the guards’ barracks. He hadn’t expected to see the series of rooms again and there was something jarring about people laughing and joking around as they readied themselves for bed. The Boiling Rock was a place of misery, except for the places restricted to the guards only where the men and women who worked to keep the prisoners in horrible conditions were able to act as though they didn’t commit atrocities every day.

It was a disrespectful place and Sokka had been looking forward to being away from it.

He didn’t even pretend to belong among the guards – he went straight to the men’s quarters without so much as a glance at anyone else. The early shift was already in bed and the only sounds in the dark room were of men’s shifting bodies and quiet snores. Sokka, having grown up used to sleeping close to people for warmth, was completely unbothered by the light noises as he made his way to an empty bed and immediately flung himself onto it headfirst.

He should be planning. Even if his father didn’t show up tomorrow morning, they needed a plan. He was the plan guy; he needed to come up with a plan.

But every time he tried to think of something, anything, his mind threw up the image of Zuko’s shocked face as his words hit him and Sokka felt his stomach sink with nauseous guilt.

Zuko hadn’t said a single word their entire way back, hadn’t even looked at Sokka.

Sokka had learned, in the time he had spent with the former prince at the air temple and at the Boiling Rock, that Zuko was actually a quiet person when he wasn’t yelling or storming about after the Avatar. He didn’t really speak unless spoken to, never offered words of his own unless he thought they were wanted. They had spent many meals together where Sokka hadn’t even realized the other boy hadn’t uttered a single word the entire evening until he startled the entire group with a low, raspy goodnight.

Sokka was used to the other boy being quiet but this was different. Before, even in supremely awkward moments, Zuko’s silence had always been – comforting wasn’t quite the right word but it hadn’t quite ever disquieted him. Sokka had vastly preferred the silence to the screaming and stomping in the first few days with the former prince, especially when Katara was doing enough of it for the whole group, and he had quickly gotten used to it. He had associated a quiet Zuko with a – perhaps not content nor happy former prince, but at least not an upset one. He associated quiet Zuko with a watchful gaze over the group, with hesitant hands carefully carding through a little Earth Kingdom boy’s dirty hair as he slept in his lap, with elegant movements as he silently practiced with gleaming swords in each hand. 

But this silence wasn’t like those ones. This silence was suffocating, punishing.

Once, when Sokka was very small and his mother was still alive, his father had tried to distract him from his mother’s disappearance into the omega hut by taking him out on the water to help catch fish. It had been a crystal clear day, the air nearly as warm as it ever got at the South Pole; his father hadn’t expected the storm and Sokka remembered, clear as the sky had been that day, the way the entire sky seemed to rip open as the storm came down on them.

Zuko’s silence felt like that moment; like the calm before the storm, the bright sky before the downpour.

Sokka had learned to expect Zuko’s anger to rise with his voice, he didn’t know what this silence was but he knew it was nothing good.

He also knew, without a doubt, that whatever storm was approaching, whatever destruction Zuko’s silence brought, he deserved.

Sokka felt like a terrible person and terrible people deserved bad things.

* * *

Zuko lifted his head as the sun rose – it was too far away for any of the light to actually reach his dismal cell but he could feel it just as surely as he felt the breath in his lungs. It was early – Agni had just barely reached out his fingers to chase away his sister’s domain – but already he could hear the faint stirring of his fellow prisoners as they awoke around him. Any minute now the morning guards would start their rounds, tossing half-rotted food at the already risen prisoners and slamming their batons against any cell with a still sleeping inmate inside.

Zuko himself had not slept – badly thought out plans and viciously dismissed thoughts about Sokka had plagued his mind and kept him awake – but he still made a show of rising from his mattress with a stretch and an only half-faked yawn. He didn’t think any guard was outside watching his cell but it never hurt to be careful; especially when it only took one suspicious move to have the warden breathing down his neck.

It only took a few minutes for a guard to come stomping to his door and Zuko didn’t know whether he was relieved or disappointed that it wasn’t Sokka who threw half a piece of hard bread and a bowl of tepid stew that had bits of what might have been sea slug in it. He didn’t let himself dwell on it as he grabbed up the meal and ate quickly.

The guard was back before Zuko had finished the last swallow of the tepid gray stew and sounded almost bored as she barked for Zuko to finish up and return the bowl so she could unlock the door. As much as Zuko despised the Boiling Rock, he felt oddly pleased that they at least took their prisoners seriously enough to not leave them even the most innocuous items to use as a weapon. It wasn’t like that third-rate prison barge in the Earth Kingdom Zuko had retrieved the Water Tribe necklace from.

Which, most likely, he shouldn’t be pleased about. The third-rate prison barge may have been ran by incompetent fools but at least that meant the prisoners could escape from it. Zuko had come up with exactly nothing actually helpful for their escape and he slid the bowl back through the door with the bad grace of someone who hadn’t slept in days and could see the bloody writing on the walls.

Zuko could have been halfway across the Boiling Lake by now and instead he had very likely sealed his fate convincing Sokka to stay behind n the vain hope that his father would appear on the prison barge. He had sold his life for an arrogant, idiotic alpha boy who hated him.

His tutors had warned him about omegas who gave too much up for alphas – horror stories about foolish dishonoring moments mostly, nothing quite as severe as staging a prison break against one’s own nation as not even his most hateful tutors had thought Zuko was quite _that_ stupid – and he had always scoffed at them. He had never thought he would give up something important for some random alpha just because he thought they were attractive or charming and they were just a tiny bit kind.

It turns out, however, that Zuko would give up his freedom for an alpha boy who could barely stand him and who was neither remarkably attractive nor remotely charming.

No one had thought Zuko was quite that stupid but apparently he held his own special brand of idiocy.

The guard was indifferent to Zuko’s bad grace as she opened the cell door. “To the upper yard.” She barked at him as she backed away a cautious distance to allow him to leave his tiny room.

Zuko glared at her for good measure as he passed by but joined the congregation of prisoners shuffling out of their cells without much of a fight. He hadn’t come up with any suitable plan but he knew, at the very least, starting trouble too early would only make it harder to escape. Even if the irritation crawling under his skin made him prickle at the slightest provocation and he wanted nothing more than to punch something – or preferably some _one._

But he couldn’t do that; at least not without a plan to back it up and definitely not before learning whether or not he had risked his freedom for nothing. He would find out soon enough as he followed the rest of the prisoners to the upper yard. The warden liked having the other prisoners watch as new ones came in – he liked putting on a show of superiority and greeting new inmates with the entire population of the Boiling Rock was the perfect opportunity for one.

The upper yard was already packed but years of tracking a myth turned to flesh made Zuko more than adequate at finding people in a crowd and it didn’t take him nearly as much time as he would have liked to spot Sokka in the crowd, dressed in his full guard’s uniform and standing stiff and uncomfortable. Zuko ignored the unpleasant flip in his stomach that threatened to bring his meager breakfast back up as he made his way to the other boy.

It was silly, this odd mixture of rage and hurt coursing through his body and Zuko wasn’t about to let it jeopardize their escape.

And, fighting or not, Zuko had been the one to convince Sokka to stay for his father; it would have been wrong to leave the other boy alone as the new prisoners were brought out. Uncle would have disapproved and even though Zuko knew he wasn’t nearly as good as his uncle, there was something terribly cruel about letting Sokka deal with this alone.

So even though his entire body felt stiff and reluctant with each step he took to the other boy, Zuko forced himself to move until he was standing as near to Sokka as he dared – close enough to grab a hold of him if he actually did see his father and tried anything stupid, far enough away that their proximity wouldn’t draw unwanted attention.

He knew Sokka could feel his presence – the other boy’s body had stiffened more than Zuko thought was possible, turning him into a living statue, and he saw his gaze flicker briefly towards him. His body softened just a bit as he registered that Zuko was not a threat, but he made no other move to acknowledge Zuko. Zuko had to strangle the sudden urge he had to scowl; it wasn’t fair that Sokka was angry at _him_ when all he had done was help the other boy not make the biggest regret of his life but he had already known the Water Tribe boy was unreasonable. There was no point starting another pointless fight now, in front of witnesses and with tensions high.

Even if a large part of him wanted to grab the other boy and just make him _look_ at him.

Zuko hated being ignored and Sokka was doing it blatantly.

He should have stayed on the other side of the yard, should have made Sokka seek him out, should’ve gone looking for Suki instead. The Earth Kingdom girl was at least _reasonable_.

Only years of forced etiquette training and the half-forgotten memories of sharp whacks against the back of his hands kept Zuko from fidgeting as the minutes dragged on viciously slow.

Did it really take this long to deliver up a few prisoners? Surely the prisoner would have been better off just staying in their cells instead of waiting out in the open for their newest compatriots? It had to be a security risk, having so many out so near the only official way out of the prison?

Probably it was another part of the warden’s power play. Bring the prisoners close enough to the only exit that they could almost taste the freedom and force them to stay put. Reinforce the futility of their existence.

It was a move Zuko’s father himself favored – it was why he had kept Uncle so close to the palace even though there were far more secured prisons further away.

Perhaps Zuko would be able to make the warden regret the unnecessary display of power just as much as his father must have after the eclipse.

The idea of it was almost enough to curb the nauseous anger roiling in Zuko’s stomach.

Almost.

* * *

Sokka was going to vomit.

He felt absolutely sick as he watched the warden stalk around in front of the crowd of prisoners. Even with Zuko next to him, a tense silent figure, Sokka felt nauseated. He couldn’t even bring himself to fully look at the other boy – even if he hadn’t been such a jerk the night before, nothing could have pulled his gaze away from the platform. Any minute now, the gondola would arrive. Any minute now, Sokka would learn whether or not he had risked their escape for nothing

It started coming into view, a ghastly vivid mechanical monstrosity done up in the garish colors of the Fire Nation and complete silence fell upon the crowd. Closer and closer it crept and Sokka’s heart skipped a beat with each inch until finally, finally it came to a stop and Sokka felt like his heart had stopped beating altogether. He didn’t dare breath as two guards hurried to open the door, didn’t dare move as they began jostling prisoners out one by one.

They were all dressed in the same ragged, dull red uniform of the Boiling Rock prisoners, their heads down and their arms shackled in front of them. A few had darker skin than the average Fire Nation citizen but none had the bright blue eyes of the Water Tribe; none were his father. Sokka knew the exact moment Zuko realized it too; the other boy didn’t say anything at all but Sokka heard his quick intake of breath as the last of the prisoners made their way onto the platform.

Sokka couldn’t keep bear to watch anymore. Perhaps it would look cowardly or suspicious, but Sokka was suddenly tired of it all, the dull red uniforms, the thinly concealed smirks on the guards’ faces as they regarded the new meat, the rustle of the prisoners behind him. He looked away and it was all he could do not to turn to Zuko; the former prince might hate him now but at least he had some inkling of the pain in Sokka’s chest.

It had been for nothing; all for nothing. He should have just left with Zuko and Suki while he’d had the chance, should have dragged them both into the cooler and left. He should have kept them safe instead of letting them risk their lives and their freedoms on a stupid whim –

“Hey you! Come on out,” Sokka’s head shot up at the angry shout. There was someone still waiting in the back of the gondola, someone defiant.

Hope welled in his heart despite his mind yelling at him to be cautious. The likelihood of it being his father over undoubtedly countless other Fire Nation enemies was still low; it could just as easily be another pirate or some basic Fire Nation prisoner. It might not be anyone important to him at all.

But then the figure was stepping out and Sokka’s breath caught in his throat. Even though he was thinner than he had ever seen him, even though his dark skin was almost sallow in its sickliness, even though his thick hair was dirtier and more tangled than ever, Sokka recognized him instantly and hope and despair transformed into relief and gratitude as his father stepped out from the gondola, his back straight and his gaze proud as ever.

Hakoda, chief of the Southern Water Tribe, had arrived at the Boiling Rock.

Sokka watched as his father stood straight, his eyes fixed ahead of him and his face carefully impassive, as he fell into line alongside the other prisoners. The warden approached, his manner carefully calm and a small ominous smirk curving his mouth. He began speaking, his tone carrying, but Sokka understood none of it, his sole attention fixed onto his father. He hadn’t thought the Fire Nation would be able to break his father but there had still been doubts in the back of his mind that made him grateful to drink in his father’s proud, calm demeanor. It was easy to drown out the warden’s overly self-confident monologue when he could bask in the relief that his father was _here_.

At least, he could until the warden came to a stop right in front of his father.

It was only Zuko’s quick movement and the warning weight of a slender hand on his elbow that kept Sokka in place when the warden began speaking to his father, demanding a sign of respect Sokka knew his father would never give him. Pride welled in him alongside worry when his father refused to look in the warden’s eyes but it took a painful squeeze on his arm to keep him from rushing forward when the warden forced Hakoda to his knees with one swift movement of his foot.

He felt a little better when his father sent the warden sprawling with a quick, precise movement of his cuffed hands, enough to let out a little surprised laugh, and he almost completely relaxed when the warden scurried back to his feet and didn’t immediately attack his father. He still had to fight the urge to scramble off towards his father as the warden shouted at the guards to get the new prisoners out of his face – he probably would have rushed forward if Zuko didn’t still have a death grip on his elbow that he didn’t release until all the prisoners were completely out of sight.

Sokka was so excited, he didn’t even notice that Zuko dropped his arm as though his skin scalded him.

“My dad’s here!” he whispered, excitement clear in his voice as he turned slightly to Zuko. “He’s here!” he repeated a grin curving his mouth wide.

“I saw,” Zuko responded and there was something in his voice that Sokka didn’t quite understand. Before Sokka could even begin to decipher it, a somber faced guard was approaching them.

“All new guards need to report to the lower courtyard,” the woman said, her cool voice giving nothing away.

“Of course,” Sokka answered, careful to step away from Zuko as though they hadn’t just been talking. “Right after I escort this scum back to his cell,” he added. He still needed to talk to Zuko and they both needed to find Suki. The sooner they began their planning, the sooner they could all leave.

The woman’s face didn’t so much as twitch but there was something concerning in her tone as she said, “Another guard can escort the prisoner. All new guards need to report immediately.”

The relief that Sokka had felt at the arrival of his father was evidently short-lived as he had no choice but to nod and begin making his way to the lower courtyard, leaving Zuko alone with the guard.

Something had happened, Sokka was certain. And whatever it was had made their escape that much more difficult.

* * *

Zuko didn’t have time to sort out the whirlwind of emotions coursing through him – satisfaction that he had been right warred with a sudden, reluctant worry for Sokka because nothing good could ever come from the warden wanting anything – because the guard was turning to him, her expression, half-obscured by her helmet, carefully blank.

“Come with me.” She told him and her voice brokered no argument and she was grabbing Zuko’s forearm in a tight grip before he could even react. His first instinct was to jerk away but she must have predicted that he would react violently because another, larger guard was suddenly behind him grabbing a hold of his free arm and placing a firm, open-palmed hand in the middle of his back. Zuko could feel the warning heat through his thin shirt and had no choice but to walk forward with his back bowed forward from the pressure.

The warning didn’t extend to his mouth, however, and Zuko had no problem loudly demanding, “where are you taking me?” as the guards led him through the slowly dispersing crowd of prisoners. They didn’t respond as they forced him to march through dimly-lit hallways so Zuko repeated himself louder, forcing the feeling of rising panic back down into the pit of his stomach so only anger would show in his voice.

“Orders from the warden,” the guard with a hand on his back finally spoke, his voice gruff and stern and Zuko felt another spike of panic as he recognized the hall they turned into.

This was the hall of interrogation rooms where Zuko had first spoken to the warden in a tiny, empty room.

Had they found Chit Sang and his friends? Or was this Zuko-specific related?

Had the warden finally called his father?

Was Zuko being marched to his death, a death he dreaded would be coming the moment he had decided to overstay in this dismal hell?

He didn’t have time to fight, he didn’t have time to do anything except yell that he hadn’t done anything _wrong_ before the hand on his back gave him a hard shove into an open room. He was barely able to catch himself from falling onto the hard ground and was barely beginning to straighten up when a cold, detached voice spoke out.

“Oh come on now, Zuko. We both know that isn’t true,” Mai’s voice, quiet as always but just as sharp as one of her finely honed daggers, droned out from somewhere in front of him and Zuko nearly fell over onto his back as his head shot up fast enough to almost upend him.

Mai was in front of him, closer than she had ever been allowed to be without a chaperone, her hands neatly folded in front of her, hidden inside the oversized sleeves she had always preferred. Her pale face was impassive as ever but for once, Zuko didn’t have to try to guess what she was feeling. Mai had always been careful to keep her scent hidden away – it was much more common for omegas to hide their scents than alphas but there was still some who had been taught how to do it. It was common in his father’s chambers, where any display of emotion, even if it were from a completely natural process like scents, could be punished severely. Mai had learned to mask her scent from her father the moment she had presented, according to Azula, and she had always hidden it whenever she was feeling a particular way to keep her façade of closed indifference up.

It had driven Zuko mad, knowing he must have done something wrong whenever Mai closed her scent off but not knowing _how_ she had been feeling, but now he realized how lucky he had been when she had done it because the scent that filled the room now – of wildfires and the oil she used to clean her blades – was overwhelming.

“Mai,” he whispered, unable to stop herself. Her gaze narrowed sharply at his voice and then she turned to look over his shoulder.

“Leave us.” She demanded and neither of the guards were stupid enough to argue. They turned and walked away to stand a good distance away, leaving Zuko to deal with Mai alone. Zuko didn’t blame them. Mai’s scent was terrifying when she was angry; Mai herself was terrifying when she was angry and there was no doubt who all that anger was directed to.

Mai slid past him without a word – Zuko had to force himself not to tense up as one of her sleeves brushed against his bare arm, almost certain there would be a blade greeting his flesh – and half closed the door. “Sit.” She told him, her voice deceptively impassive. Zuko hated himself, a little, for how quickly he responded to her. But nothing good had ever happened to him around an irate alpha and he knew it was better to go along with what she wanted, for now, than to try and fight her too early.

He sat stiffly in the seat, cautious not to push himself all the way back and to keep his weight on his legs in case he needed to spring up quickly – Mai had never been physical with him all the time they were carefully negotiating a would-be betrothal, had never even once seemed tempted to raise an angry hand, but she was deadly and he was an enemy now – and tensed as Mai walked past him and leaned against the wall. He waited for her to say something, anything, but she remained quiet as ever.

He was well-versed in this – Mai did not yell, she did not scream, or shout when she was angry; she hardly spoke at all when they fought. Instead, she waited until Zuko, who had always feared the quiet because the punishments were _always_ worse when his father was cold than when he was raging, broke first.

He tried not to fall into her trap but it was so much worse when he could smell her rage all around him just waiting for him to misstep once more.

He didn’t even last a minute.

“How did you know where I was?” His voice was quiet, his head bowed to look at his clasped fingers instead of her.

He heard the rustle of her robes as she shifted and they were quickly followed by an acidic voice. “I know you so well,” he looked up at that, the question obvious in his face – because that’s always who Zuko had been, someone who wore every emotion on his face even when it was better not to have anything and Mai stared back, her face a pale mask of indifference because that was always who she had been, someone who threw up every wall between herself and the rest of the world. How anyone had looked at them and thought they would be a perfect mated pair, Zuko would never know.

He had wished, once, that he could have been the perfect match for her. He had wished, once, for a lot of things that would never be.

“The warden’s my uncle, you idiot.” She snapped, a hint of the anger roiling between them in her voice.

Of course he was.

Mai’s family had always been closely linked to the prison system throughout the Fire Nation. It had been her grandfather who had developed the buildings where the Fire Nation had once kept waterbender prisoners when the raids had begun. It had been the reason her father had been given Omashu – they needed someone capable of keeping the deposed King Bumi safely imprisoned. Of course it would have been someone from her family in charge of the largest, most important prison in the Fire Nation.

Zuko really _was_ an idiot.

"I guess I don’t really know you at all,” Mai was unrelenting; now that Zuko had broken the silence, she had a lot to say.

Zuko suppressed the urge to groan as she slid out a roll from her sleeves and let it fall open, revealing Zuko’s own words back to him. “A _letter_?” Mai’s voice was scathing even in its quietness and Zuko flinched.

“I didn’t have time,” he began, “I had to get to my uncle, I had –“

“Dear Mai,” Mai cut in, her voice as cutting as any of her daggers as she stalked close, the letter firmly held in her outstretched hand as she read it. Zuko had to fight to keep her gaze as shame rolled in him as his words were thrown back into his face. Whether he loved Mai or not, whether they would have been a good pair or a bushfire waiting to burn, he cared for her. He had never meant to hurt her and it was clear, whatever Mai might or might not have felt for him, she _had_ been hurt. “I didn’t want you to find out this way but I’m leaving. I-“

“Stop!” Zuko couldn’t take anymore of the words; he knew exactly what was written on the paper. “This isn’t about you!” He added when Mai fell into an expectant silence.

That had been, predictably, the wrong thing to say. “Thanks Zuko,” she told him, her voice dripping in sarcasm as she flung the crumpled letter at him, “that makes me feel better.”

“Mai-“ he jumped to his feet; he couldn’t stand being on unequal footing any longer.

“Do you have any idea what happens after someone betrays their country?’ Mai cut in, voice suddenly ice cold. Zuko’s words faltered in his mouth, caught off guard by the unexpected question. “They look to those closest to the traitor. The Fire Lord brought us all in, not even Azula was spared.” Mai continued when it was obvious Zuko was not about to interrupt. “She was quickly released of course – _Azula’s_ loyalty is unquestionable. But they held me for hours, asked me all sorts of things in front of the entire war council. Do you know what it is like having a bunch of old geezers ask about how intimate you’ve been with someone? Do you know how humiliating it is to be asked why you can’t keep a _single_ omega in line?”

Zuko had tried to keep his temper in check – it was obvious that Mai needed to have her say and he already had in that letter – but it flared up despite his best intentions. Did _he_ , who had spent countless hours in omega classes to learn how to behave with the modesty befitting his station, have any idea what it was like to be mortified in front of a bunch of old men? Could _he_ understand how embarrassing it had been for her, when it was him she was supposed to keep in line like some wayward koala-sheep?

“I’m not just some pet you have to train not to bite people, Mai!” His voice was loud; he didn’t care. Let the guards hear it, let them come running. A beating would be worth it, as long as he got his say in before the blows began. “I’m not some prize you have to keep shiny!”

“I never said you were!” Mai’s voice wasn’t raised nearly as high as his, but it was louder than he had heard it since their disastrous vacation at Ember Island.

“You sure have a funny way of showing it!” Zuko snapped back, undeterred by the clear warning in his voice.

"You weren’t the one thrown away like you’re trash!” Mai shot back, just as viciously. “I was going to be your _betrothed_!”

“Like that meant anything to you!” Mai didn’t flinch – she was too well-trained for that, too well-bred – but Zuko could tell from the slight widening in her eyes that he had struck a nerve. For a moment, neither said anything as Zuko’s words fell heavy between them. Zuko couldn’t bring himself to feel guilty over the words – they were wholly true and both of them knew it – but he did regret how loudly he had shouted them, how brutally they came out. He could have been more tactful.

Then again, Mai didn’t have to refer to him like a badly trained pet either.

The silence between them seemed to sap Mai’s anger away – or perhaps the shock had allowed her to tuck her anger and her scent away and compose herself behind a cold mask again– and she straightened up. “Well. It’s good to know where I stand with you at last, at least.” Her tone was deceptively mild, her eyes cruel.

“That’s not fair!” Zuko said, his tone rising again as he flung his hands out. Mai twisted his words, made Zuko feel like the bad guy but he _wasn’t_. He hadn’t left to spite Mai and he hadn’t been the one to chase her across the world just to throw an engagement neither of them actually cared about in her face.

His anger was fiery and it screamed at him to burn her. He found himself opening his mouth again without thinking and he practically spat the words at her feet.

“ _I_ wasn’t the one in love with someone else!”

If he had thought the last silence had been heavy, this one was suffocating.

Mai’s mask broke, just for a moment. She looked like he had slapped her. He might as well have.

Never, not even once, in all their carefully orchestrated and closely chaperoned dates, had they approached the massive elephant-rat in the room.

Mai loved Ty Lee; it had been clear in every small glance, in every illicit brush of their bodies as they sparred, in every tiny smile Mai gave in return to Ty Lee’s beaming one, in each moment of eye contact held for just a second too long than was appropriate. It was almost common knowledge amongst their tiny group – meaning Azula took great delight in heavily hinting and teasing about it while simultaneously ensuring none of it got loud enough to reach the Fire Lord’s ears.

Mai loved Ty Lee, but they could never be together. Even if Mai hadn’t been slated to be the ruler seated next to the future Fire Lord, her family would have never approved her marrying a tainted omega. And Ty Lee, despite her prowess, despite her close friendship with the Fire Princess and her noble upbringing, _was_ tainted.

She had left her family home and run off to the circus and no amount of war prestige could ever wash away that stain off an omega. And Mai, despite her aloofness, despite how much she resented her father’s overcontrolling nature and her mother’s contrived omega delicacy, cared a great deal about her family and would have never gone against their wishes.

Zuko didn’t blame her for loving Ty Lee; he had never held it against her. Marriages and matings amongst the royal family were hardly romantic affairs – not even Uncle had married for love, although no one would deny that they had been fond of each other – and he had been lucky enough that he had at least met Mai prior to the talks. He was lucky enough to at least _like_ Mai. His own parents hadn’t officially met until his mother had been brought in for the wedding ceremony preparations and their quiet hatred of each other was a well-kept secret within the palace walls.

But Mai and Zuko had never talked about it either, had never broached that invisible wall. And Now Zuko had thrown it into her face as though it was something intolerable, something that he found horrible rather than just a basic, undeniable fact.

“I didn’t –“ he tried to backtrack. He hadn’t meant it like that, like he was angry that Mai loved someone else. It wasn’t like he even loved Mai like that. But Zuko couldn’t figure out how to take the words back and Mai’s face was closed and impassive once more.

“Whatever you think about me, Zuko, at least _I_ didn’t betray our country.”

“I’m trying to _save_ our country.” He said, his voice oddly quiet after all the yelling. It didn’t matter what he said. Mai was closed to him now and whatever chance he might have had to convince her that what the Fire Nation was doing was _wrong –_ that what they had been doing for a century was _wrong_ \- had gone away. He didn’t even know if she had gotten what she had come for from him and she didn’t speak another word to him as she called for the guards to come back in.

Zuko didn’t try to say anything more and he didn’t put up a fight as the guards began to bodily pull him from the room.

He couldn’t quite ignore the pang in his heart that told him he had just lost a friend, but he tried his best to do it anyway. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, thank you all for reading! I know this was very late but life is really hectic and I had very little time to sit and write compared to when I started this series. I'm still invested in this though, and I'm glad you all read it! I hope you enjoyed it and I'll try to have not as big of a gap between this and the next chapter!


	6. Chapter 6

Sokka tried to shove down all his nervous energy as he left Zuko with the other guard and walked down to the lower courtyard. The exhilarating relief he had felt upon seeing his father had dissipated – he should have known nothing nice would last anywhere in the Fire Nation – and in its place was the same kind of panicky dread that had plagued him since arriving at the Boiling Rock.

He hadn’t seen Suki all morning, he had left Zuko with some strange guard, and he was itching to get in contact with his father – he just knew that the moment he did, everything would be so much easier, his father could think through _anything_ – but instead he was walking away from all of them, possibly to his doom because there was no way he was heading to good news.

So Sokka was nervous and that feeling was not at all abated once he finally got to the lower courtyard. The new guards were all standing at attention in a single line, their bodies ramrod straight and their arms held tightly behind their backs. Any small hope that Sokka might have held onto that this summons was actually a normal part of the Boiling Rock routine was dashed as he came closer – every single guard seemed brimming with nervous energy and a few were even shifting slightly, a noticeable break in the normally pristine posture of every Fire Nation guard he had come across at the Boiling Rock.

And the air around them _reeked_ of fear. Sokka had been able to block out the smells of distress and anger that permeated the air all around him – he had to, or he simply wouldn’t have lasted in the Boiling Rock and he had smelled far worse during his travels – but this was far different. For one, the majority of the prisoners were betas with a fair amount of alphas and - as far as he could tell but there was no way to know because the Fire Nation taught them to _hide their scent_ – almost no omegas and their combined scent was not particularly overpowering in a place where everything reeked of poorly washed humans in cramped spaces and mildew. The guards, however, were overwhelmingly alpha and the scent of their fear felt suffocating as Sokka hesitated in taking his spot.

It was obvious that Sokka had been justified in dreading whatever this meeting was going to be about but it was far too late to turn around and pretend that he hadn’t been told about it so he forced himself forward and took a spot towards the end of the line. He had never felt particularly small at the Boiling Rock but standing between two of the fully grown guards, one of whom kept nervously tapping his fingers against each other behind his back, Sokka had never been more aware that he was just a kid playacting as an adult guard in the middle of enemy territory.

Footsteps echoed behind them and Sokka had to force himself not to turn. It had to be the warden and his personal guards - he had filled the last hole in the line - but there was something oddly shuffling about their walk, almost as if they were dragging something between them. It took a tremendous amount of will power to not turn around and see what was going on.

Then the warden and his personal guards were in front of the line of guards and it took every ounce of willpower in Sokka’s body not to flee from the courtyard as fast as possible.

Sokka’s ears had been correct – the warden’s personal guards were indeed hoisting a large form between them, arms tight around the massive frame of the very last person Sokka had wanted or expected to see.

Chit Sang was supposed to be out, long gone, sailed away on a cooler Zuko and Sokka had risked their lives to steal. He was supposed to be causing trouble in the northern islands somewhere with his weird friend and pretty girlfriend. He was supposed to be gorging himself on non-prison food drenched in enough spices to burn his nose hairs off. He wasn’t supposed to be being dragged in front of half of the guards in the prison looking like he’d lost several rounds with Toph and seemingly unwilling or unable to raise his head.

Sokka moved to stand slightly behind the guard next to him - perhaps if he was half hidden Chit Sang wouldn’t recognize him – but the taller man just jabbed him with his elbow, forcing him back to his place just in time for the warden to begin speaking.

“One of you is a traitor.” The warden’s voice was deceptively calm, his face impassive as he began walking in front of the line of guards. “One of you thought they’d be able to get passed me,” there was derision in his voice at that, as though the warden had never heard of anything more preposterous. Had Sokka not been panicking, he might have laughed at the man’s absurdly inflated self-confidence. “But there is no getting passed me,” the warden had stopped right in front of Sokka and his heart found itself lodged in his throat with how hard it skipped. The warden’s gaze was fierce as it focused on Sokka, undoubtedly taking in his brown skin, several shades darker than even the most tanned of the guards in the line. Sokka had to force himself not to squint his eyes in an attempt to hide their distinctive lack of the golden amber so common in the Fire Nation.

The Fire Nation had conquered many people, had stolen many more. Surely there were Fire Nation citizens with eyes like his?

Sokka hadn’t seen anyone with eyes quite as vividly blue – anyone except Hama and that horror story of an old woman had made it pretty clear she was the only water tribesmen who’d ever made it out of prison – but there had been a few with pale blue eyes and the warden didn’t seem to think them too conspicuous because he turned away from Sokka finally and continued back down to the center of the line, terrorizing each guard with his too sharp gaze as he went.

He didn’t speak again until he’d gotten within arm’s reach of Chit Sang. “Who was it?” He barked at the prisoner, a hint of his rage clipping the demand. Sokka wondered how quickly he could reach the others after he ran – Suki and Zuko were probably back in their cells awaiting their turn in the upper prison courtyard and his dad had probably found himself in a cell in the alpha men’s section, that shouldn’t be too hard to find especially with a horde of angry prison guards motivating him to hurry along.

He took a step back as Chit Sang finally stepped forward, his steps lumbering and slow, his eyes still downcast. If he went now, before Chit Sang looked up and named him, he might make it to the door before the others realized – if his misadventures had taught him anything it was how to flee, he doubted there was anyone in this room faster than him. He only had to make it to the door and he could be gone –

Chit Sang was looking up now and Sokka tensed, his muscles flexing as they prepared to sprint –

But then, miraculously, somehow, Chit Sang was pointing – not at Sokka but at some other guard several people down. Relief poured into Sokka so abruptly his knees nearly buckled and he had to stifle a semi-panicked and definitely ill-advised laugh as he realized he _recognized_ the other guard who was now spluttering denial after denial.

It was the guard from before, who had goaded Chit Sang into a fight and condemned to the cooler. Sokka hadn’t even known the guy had been a new hire. He might have felt bad that he was going to be the fall guy for him – a spot of treason would not look good on his resume – but the man was a total jerk and Chit Sang was keeping his mouth shut about Sokka which mean that Suki, Zuko and his father were also safe.

Sokka could have kissed Chit Sang except the man was his father’s age and that would defeat the purpose of Chit Sang covering for him. Still, he owed the larger man several apologies and by the way Chit Sang briefly locked eyes with him before being led back out of the courtyard following the still ranting guard now in cuffs, he knew it too.

Sokka would have to add him to the list of people who needed out. There was no way he could just leave the man in the prison; more importantly, there was no way Chit Sang would _let_ them leave him in the prison. They were already doing the impossible, surely one more person wouldn’t be that much more difficult. Sokka was certain his father could help him figure out how to do it. He just had to find him first.

He could barely stand still and at attention while the warden ranted on about something completely unimportant – he had already gotten his guy, as far as he knew, Sokka didn’t know why he had to _gloat_ about it – but finally, after several more minutes of droning, the guards were dismissed. It was all Sokka could do not to run from the courtyard – as relieving it had been to see Chit Sang pointing at someone else, it had still been far too close of a call than Sokka would have ever liked – but he forced himself to take a steady, almost carefree pace from the yard.

The other guards had broken into mutters, mostly expressing their disbelief that one of their own had helped a prisoner escape, but Sokka paid it very little mind. The other guard was not his concern anymore and he wouldn’t waste his time feeling bad about some arrogant, jerkish firebender when he had a breakout to plan. _Especially_ when he already had his own firebender to worry about.

It was ridiculously easy to slip past the guards normally stationed in the alpha men’s corridor – apparently even a recent prison break wasn’t enough incentive to get the low-level guards to fully do their duty. Not that Sokka was going to complain too much about that when it was their incompetence that was going to be his salvation and ticket out of the prison. It was all too easy to make his way down the corridors, peering into various cells and rattling them with his baton to look threatening whenever another guard passed him by.

He looked into ten before he found what he was looking for and Sokka didn’t bother biting back his grin when, after checking and doublechecking that no one was around to spot him, he slipped into the small cell. His father had been sitting on his flat mattress, head low, but he jumped up faster than Sokka had expected him to be able to, his arms raised and ready for a fight.

Sokka took his helmet off quickly. He had heard enough tales about his father’s teenage brawls with Bato and had seen his father fight so viciously during the invasion that he knew better than to risk it. “Dad!” He called out; his smile only brightened when he took in his father’s wide-eyed surprise.

“Sokka? What are you – why are you here?” Wonder and confusion fought with each other in his father’s tone even as he stepped forward and pulled him into a tight embrace.

Sokka allowed himself one moment to relish in his father’s warm, comforting hold before pulling away. “I’ve come to get you out,” he told him, hardly able to contain his glee. He couldn’t believe that he was here now, in this dismal cell, with his father. He couldn’t believe he had actually found him.

He couldn’t believe he had almost left without him.

He couldn’t believe that, without Zuko to beat some sense into him, he would have missed this chance to regain his honor.

His father must have sensed Sokka’s sudden shift, the slight droop in his smile, because his voice was gentler than Sokka expected when he said, “how?”

“I had help,” Sokka answered, suddenly conflicted. How did he explain Zuko to his father?

_Hey dad, remember that firebending jerk me and Katara told you about? The one who grabbed Gran Gran and broke our border wall? The one who betrayed his own uncle and who’s sister almost permanently killed the Avatar? He’s my friend now, sort of, and he helped me break in here to get you. Also, he’s an omega and I have no idea what to do about that and everything I say comes out wrong and I think I royally pissed him off and I don’t know how to fix that?_

Yeah, somehow Sokka didn’t think they had time to go over all of that.

He also had no idea _how_ to even address the whole “Zuko is an omega” with his father. He was pretty sure his “cherish and protect omegas, it’s your duty son” father wouldn’t be very happy with how cruel Sokka had been to Zuko. He was even more sure that if he told his father Zuko was an omega and his father treated Zuko like he would an omega from their tribe because of it, Zuko _would_ actually kill him.

But still, he had to tell his dad _something_.

“You remember that prince guy Katara and I told you about?” He began, sitting down on the mattress and avidly not thinking about where all the off-colored stains on it had come from. He waited for his father to sit and nod before continuing. “Turns out he’s good now? Or at least he’s trying to be. He helped us fight off an assassin – well, he sent him initially but he also almost died getting flung off a cliff during that fight so I guess that balances out? We’re all fine now, no one got hurt!” Sokka added, seeing his father’s forehead crease with sudden concern. Perhaps “sent an assassin” and “flung off a cliff” were not great ways to reintroduce his father to Zuko. It was far too late to stop his rambling now though. 

“Well, okay the assassin did; got him in the forehead with my boomerang and he exploded, almost collapsed the temple – you know that really isn’t the point right now and it’s kind of a long story, we’ll talk about it later,” Sokka quickly backtracked seeing that the creases in his father’s forehead had only gotten worse and he was wearing the “I’m trying to be calm but my son somehow got two fishhooks stuck in his hand, how did he do that” face. Which Sokka knew would quickly be followed by the “he’s never leaving my side again, oh my spirits how did he nearly get eaten by a polar dog I was gone for two minutes” face if he wasn’t careful.

Which, honestly the polar dog wasn’t even his fault. It had been Katara’s idea to bring the polar dog’s pup into the igloo because she thought it looked cold.

And that wasn’t what Sokka was supposed to be focusing on. He was supposed to be telling his father about Zuko being on their side now.

“The important thing is, Zuko’s on our side now and he’s not that bad – he’s actually kind of nice in a socially awkward, emotionally stunted because my family consists almost entirely of war-mongering jerkbenders kind of way. He helped me get in here to find you and he and Suki are going to help us all escape.” Sokka couldn’t quite interpret what expression his father was making now, other than that it was one of those thoughtful ones that had become more and more common since their reunion. His eyes were a little too knowing, although Sokka wasn’t even sure what information he had given him that his father could have gleamed meaning _from_ , and there was almost the hint of a smile on his face, as though his father had come to some sort of understanding Sokka wasn’t privy to.

Sokka didn’t know why, exactly, that face made him so uncomfortable but he did know that he vastly preferred the worried ones.

“If he’s an ally of yours, he’s an ally of mine.” His dad said resolutely, that weird almost smile still on his face as he reached a hand up to clap onto Sokka’s shoulder. “Suki sounds familiar – she one of the Oshinama Fighters?”

“Do you mean the Kyoshi Warriors?” Sokka asked, latching happily onto the change of topic. Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors were a safe, neutral topic. They had never fought on the Fire Nation’s side of the war and Suki had never once threatened his grandmother.

“That’s the one,” his father responded, “I met a couple of them while I was waiting to transfer here. They mentioned that their leader had been separated from them.”

“Yeah she’s here.” He couldn’t help but notice that Suki’s involvement didn’t prompt a worried face from his father. Probably good that he didn’t mention how Suki and Zuko first met.

“Excellent. The more people we have the better,” his father said firmly, giving Sokka’s shoulder a brief squeeze. “Do you have a plan yet?” He spoke calmly, almost happily, and Sokka tried not to let his face fall. He knew his father didn’t mean to make him feel bad but the reminder that he didn’t have a plan to get everyone out safely – compounded with the fact that his initial plan had apparently been a failure as well – was a rough one.

“I’m sure between the two of us, we’ll come up with something great,” his father continued after missing a beat, seeming to sense as he always did that Sokka was upset. “After all, there’s no place in the Fire Nation that can hold up to two Southern Water Tribe genuises!” Sokka couldn’t help but smile at the surety in his father’s voice.

For the first time since crash landing at the Boiling Rock, he felt like they might all really make it out okay.

It was a dangerous feeling, that sort of hope, but with his father’s warm hand on his shoulder and a grin that matched his own above him, Sokka felt like, for once, it was a good kind of danger.

* * *

Zuko felt hopeless. Worse than hopeless, even, if that was even possible. He hardly summoned a half-hearted glare at the two guards after they threw him back into his cell unceremoniously.

Seeing Mai, hearing what she thought of him, fighting with her, had hollowed him out. Knowing that her hatred of him was reflected in every other citizen of the Fire Nation, in every single person from his homeland, was awful. Knowing that the people he’d left to help either hated him just as much or didn’t trust him was even worse.

Zuko had left behind a lot when he’d left and although he still wholeheartedly believed that helping the Avatar was the right path, he couldn’t help but feel that maybe he had given up too much to do it. His country, his family, his sort of friends; all of that was lost to him and for what?

A twelve-year-old pacifist who had yet to rectify himself with the fact that he would have to murder someone and his ragtag group of child and teenage friends who almost all either hated Zuko or had no idea how to act around him.

A jail cell he might never escape and a fate that would undoubtedly be worse than death.

Because if Mai was here, it was only a matter of time before Azula followed and then it would be all over for Zuko. She would drag him by his hair back to their father and laugh as the man finished the work he’d started years ago.

So Zuko felt hopeless. And miserable. And self-pitying in a way he knew his uncle would never approve of, if the old man had been there to see Zuko wallowing.

Uncle. Uncle was probably the only person from back home who might not hate who Zuko was trying to be; Uncle had tolerated a lot of Zuko’s worse traits, but he had never tolerated hopelessness. In all the long years of banishment, Uncle had never once let Zuko fall into bouts of despair.

Uncle would not want him to give up now, even with the possibility of Azula on the horizon. And Zuko would never have the chance to apologize to the only father he’d ever really known if he let himself give up now. What did it matter if Mai hated him? If the entire Fire Nation despised his very name? If Sokka and all the rest of the Avatar’s friends thought him a useless omega?

What did it matter what any of them thought of him, when he finally knew who he was supposed to be and what he was supposed to do?

Zuko forced himself to sit up and cross his legs. Forced himself to push away the waves of rage and hopelessness the way his uncle had tried to teach him countless times. He would get out of this prison, Mai or no Mai, Azula or no Azula. He would get out with Sokka and Suki and Sokka’s father and they would return to the Avatar because there was no other option. He would do it because that was what he was supposed to do and because it’s what he wanted to do. Nothing else mattered, really.

And if Mai tried to stop him or Azula appeared, well, it wasn’t like Zuko hadn’t dealt with worse.

In and out, just like his Uncle taught him, Zuko breathed. He calmed himself and he planned.

And he almost smiled when the soft knock on his cell door was followed by Sokka softly whispering, “it’s me. I talked to my dad and we came up with a plan.”

* * *

There was something off about Zuko, more so than the anger and hurt Sokka had felt coming from him. It was almost enough to tempt him into smelling him in the hopes of even a hint at what had changed. But then he remembered that this was _Zuko_ who had unparalleled masking control and would absolutely not hesitate to end Sokka for presumptiveness and he wisely chose to keep his nose to himself as he carefully whispered what parts of the plan he could through the door slot before telling him to meet him in the courtyard in ten minutes’ time.

Zuko merely nodded in response and Sokka tried to shake off the feeling that something wasn’t right as he turned and left before the guards doing rounds in the hall could reappear. He couldn’t risk being seen talking to the prisoners candidly now, so close to the finish line and so soon after the warden had suspected him of being a traitor. And he still had to tell Suki and Chit Sang both about the new plan.

If there was something that could jeopardize their escape, Sokka was sure Zuko would let him know.

Zuko could be reckless and petty, but he wouldn’t risk their freedom like that, Sokka was certain.

* * *

Zuko wasn’t sure why he didn’t tell Sokka about Mai. Objectively, she was a huge risk and a more than formidable enemy by herself and the danger more than tripled if Azula was with her. Sokka needed to know about her, but when the other boy had shown up at his cell and told him that it was time and they needed to cause a distraction in the courtyard he hadn’t been able to bring himself to say anything. There was something about the threat of Mai and Sokka colliding that left a sour taste in his mouth he couldn’t quite explain.

Uncle had always tried to teach him that sometimes avoiding the fight won the battle; that’s all Zuko was doing. Avoiding a fight he wasn’t all too sure his side could win. Most likely, Mai wouldn’t be expecting him to be working together with members of the water tribe, especially one of the Avatar’s friends, and she _definitely_ wouldn’t be expecting him to be working with Suki. She didn’t even know he’d ever met the other girl, a fact Zuko had somehow neglected to share every time she and Ty Lee and Azula had reminisced on their brutal take down of the Kyoshi Warriors. She probably wouldn’t even expect him to try anything so soon after revealing her presence and she might not even find out until the plan was already too far underway for her to do anything about it. 

There was no reason to worry the others and muddy the plan on a potential nonissue. And if Mai did become a problem or if she had brought Azula to the Boiling Rock with her, Zuko would deal with them then. But there was no point telling Sokka and risking the impulsive idiot deciding to go after Mai to negate the threat.

Zuko waited impatiently, barely resisting the urge to pace the length of his dismal cell, for the guards to pass through opening each door and forcing the prisoners to head out to the courtyard. The moment his was opened, Zuko was out of the cell. He had to force himself to keep a regular, sedate pace to blend in with the other prisoners. It would be stupid, incredibly stupid to draw attention to himself now, so close to escaping. Especially when, judging from the curious side-eyed glances he was getting, his trip to a private interrogation room had not gone unnoticed by his fellow prisoners.

If any of them, if even a single prisoner, discovered who was really shuffling along with them, his head slightly bowed and a scowl etched firmly onto his face, it would be over. It was far better to not draw any attention until the time came for the distraction. What the distraction would be, Zuko had no clue, but if there was one thing he knew Sokka to be good at, it was causing a spectacle. The other teen must have planned something good, judging from the gleefulness in his voice when he had whispered the instructions to Zuko. Or maybe that joy had been because he had finally found his father.

Zuko had spent so much time focusing on Sokka finding his father that he hadn’t once considered what the man was like. He had to be strong; Zuko remembered how grim his uncle and the ship’s crew had looked when news had reached them that the Southern Water Tribe warriors were on the move, how careful Uncle had been to work with the helmsmen to ensure their paths never coincided, remembered seeing the bloodstained decks of every warship the fleet had encountered, the hollowed eyes of the survivors.

Any man who could control and lead such a devastatingly destructive force had to be devastating all on his own. Powerful and cunning, he had to be to survive active war with the Fire Nation for so long with such a small fleet. Anything else about him - how hard he was, how cruel he was, what he would think of Zuko, a former enemy who had invaded his home and then chased his children from one end of the world to the other – wouldn’t matter until they had cleared the Boiling Rock. It couldn’t matter because if Zuko allowed it to matter, he would never be able to trust the man to have his back, not the way he trusted Sokka or even Suki, and trust was vital for the prison break.

Trust that the Avatar wouldn’t turn on the Blue Spirit had been the only thing that had gotten them out of the Pouhai stronghold and the Boiling Rock was twice as dangerous. Zuko had to trust that the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe would at least wait to enact his revenge for what Zuko had done to his family.

He had to.

Zuko stepped into the courtyard, carefully scanning for any of the others. And nearly froze.

Hakoda, chief of the Southern Water Tribe and leader of the entire Southern Fleet, stood out starkly against the pale-faced, slender forms of the Fire Nation prisoners. Zuko took in the man’s form – tall, bulky in the way few Fire Nation citizens were, a warrior’s tension in his ramrod straight back and a tactician’s intelligence in ocean blue eyes as he caught sight of Zuko amongst the newly arrived prisoners. Sokka must have told him what he looked like – or perhaps the chief had learned enough about his enemy to know which of them bore a ruined face – because there was recognition in his gaze.

It was not a warm recognition; there was no hint at all in the man’s stony face to suggest the sight of Zuko was a welcome one and every inch of Zuko’s body screamed at him to retreat, to not, under any circumstances, allow that man close enough to strike him. But Zuko had come to help save this man and, stormy expressions or not, he wasn’t going to back away from that now.

This was Sokka’s father, he reminded himself as he forced his body to continue to move at a casual pace closer – but not directly to, there was no reason to make the guards think their meeting was anything more than chance – to the chief. Sokka who was an idiotic, sarcastic jerk but who never allowed his suspicion to turn physically violent, who laughed loudly and clearly despite the horrors he’d faced, and who spoke about his father with the sort of love and innocent reverence Zuko had not felt about his own since he’d been very small; Sokka, who, no matter how much it infuriated Zuko, would never knowingly lead him into danger and who had told Zuko to make contact with his father in the courtyard.

Hakoda of the Southern Water Tribe would not hurt Zuko, at least while they were still at the Boiling Rock, and Zuko forced himself to trust that as he finally walked close enough that they were within touching distance. They couldn’t risk being overheard which was the only fact that allowed Zuko to be within striking distance of the larger man. The older man did not stiffen at Zuko’s approach, barely gave him a glance – a testament to a finely honed control – and Zuko strained to find something to say. It was highly unlikely the man didn’t recognize him but the complete lack of response had set him off-kilter and he struggled with words on the best of days.

Zuko was saved from making a complete and utter fool of himself by quietly approaching feet. He turned, half prepared to fight, and immediately relaxed as he recognized Suki and Sokka both approaching them. The fact that Sokka wasn’t even bothering to hide his connection to the small ragtag group made it clear that whatever the plan, it was happening now. A slight shifting of weight beside him as Hakoda half turned to face his son made that even clearer.

“We’re leaving.” Sokka said, his voice low but clear, a note of hesitant excitement underlying his words. “On the gondola,” he added, his bright eyes briefly glancing up to where the gondola sat, ready and waiting for its next group of unfortunate souls. “But we need a distraction – we need to start a riot.”

A riot was his brilliant plan. Setting off a riot and then stealing the only way out of the Boiling Rock while all the guards were distracted was the masterplan he had come up with. Zuko might have scoffed at the sheer simplicity of the plan if he hadn’t seen the remnants of that prison barge back in the Earth Kingdom. It could be effective.

If any of them knew the slightest bit about starting a prison riot. He doubted a rousing speech about the evils of the Fire Nation and the need to revolt would sway very many at the Boiling Rock. Prisoners they may be, loyalty still ran deep in the blood of every Fire Nation citizen. 

"Leave it to me,” Hakoda’s voice was low, deeper and richer than Zuko had imagined and he had to fight the stiffening of his spine at the sound of it. He meant to turn, a warning on his lips – a riot would be loud and although it could be a great distraction, it would also bring everyone in the prison, including Mai and anyone who might have traveled with her, right to their location – but before he could even get a word out, Hakoda was striding away, his back straight and his steps unhurried and confident.

]He strolled right to the largest prisoner in sight - a massive figure that dwarfed even the chief’s substantial frame – and shoved him firmly. The man nearly careened into the small group he’d been speaking with. Zuko could see where Sokka and Katara had gotten their boldness, at least.

Zuko’s breath almost caught as the massive figure turned towards Hakoda slowly, a dark expression on his face. At any moment, that man would start swinging and they would all have to jump in to ensure that a single fight turned into an outright brawl. He could feel the tension coming off of both Suki and Sokka and realized they felt the same. Any minute now, the fighting would begin –

Except the man didn’t swing and the sad expression on his face looked almost pitiful as he asked in a wounded voice, “why’d you do that?” Zuko bit back a frustrated growl. Of all the prisoners the chief could have attacked, of course it was the one learning anger management skills. He tuned out the ridiculous conversation and began scanning the courtyard, looking for the person most likely to engage in a fight. His gaze landed on a promising figure, a tall, weedy looking man with blank eyes and a fierce scar roughly bisecting his face. Before he could take even a step towards the figure, however, a looming presence descended on them and Sokka let out a surprised squeak.

Zuko reeled around immediately and scowled as he took in the massive figure of Chit Sang. The man had a small almost smile on his face but his hand on Sokka’s shoulder wasn’t crushing so Zuko banked down the urge to spit fire at the older man’s face. He could see, from the corner of his eye, Suki also pull herself from a fighting stance and knew she must have come to the same conclusion that Chit Sang wasn’t there to hurt any of them. He probably wouldn’t rise to the bait of fighting one of them either.

“I didn’t rat you out,” Chit Sang spoke, his deep voice low and almost conversational as he addressed Sokka. “You owe me.”

“Uh – yeah,” Sokka tried valiantly to keep his voice neutral but his nervousness was clear. Zuko had no idea what they were even talking about and he didn’t bother trying to keep the annoyed scowl off his face. He had known Chit Sang and his small group of idiots had been caught but Sokka apparently hadn’t seemed to think it important to mention that he and Chit Sang had met again afterwards even though it was obvious Chit Sang was going to be a problem now.

The small, more calm voice in the back of Zuko’s head that sounded far too much like Uncle whispered that Zuko hadn’t mentioned Mai yet but Zuko resolutely ignored it. Mai wasn’t the one out here blackmailing her way back into the escape plan.

“So I want in on your next ‘egg.’” Zuko bit back his words as Sokka nodded. It had been foolish to let Chit Sang in the first time and if they had gone through with it, they would have been caught with the rest of the idiots when Chit Sang screwed up but there wasn’t time to argue about it. They needed to act soon if they wanted any chance of stealing the gondola.

So even though he was sure it was pure stupidity, Zuko kept his mouth shut as Sokka whispered to the man, “we need to start a riot.”

Chit Sang didn’t ask questions. He simply flashed a bright grin and took a step back. “That’s easy.” Chit Sang told them, not even bothering to keep his voice down. Before any of them could react, he had picked up the nearest prisoner, a small man with dark eyes, and was neatly hoisting him over his head. “Riot! Riot! Riot!” He chanted, bringing the man down close to his head and pushing him back up with every repetition.

The chant, unbelievably, worked and they all took a moment to stare widely as each and every prisoner, including the one who had been spouting off the effectiveness of his anger management classes to the chief, took up the chant.

“It _can’t_ be that easy,” Suki’s tone mirrored Zuko’s own incredulousness as they watched the chaos begin to unfold. Zuko might have responded, might have even expressed the smidgen of gratitude he had for massive prisoner if the weedy-faced man he’d been eyeing and his friends hadn’t decided their small group made for easy pickings.

He barely had time to register Sokka’s hissed “meet by the gondola!” before the prisoners were on them and Zuko had to veer sharply to avoid getting tackled by the beady-eyed man. He had to remind himself not to bend as he quickly kicked the man’s legs out from under him and sent him sprawling. The purpose was controlled chaos, even a hint of fire would devolve the riot even further and make it twice as deadly.

That didn’t mean it wasn’t tempting to send some sparks into Sokka’s stupid face when Zuko turned and nearly punched the other boy as he slammed his arm down on the man who had been coming up behind Zuko.

“I can handle myself!” Zuko shouted angrily; they needed to get to the gondola and Sokka was wasting valuable time playing the chivalrous fool.

Sokka had the nerve to look completely unapologetic and Zuko probably used a bit too much force pushing away the next prisoner stupid enough to charge at him. “We have to stick together as much as possible!” The other boy argued back, stubborn as ever as he dispatched his own attacker with a well-placed punch to the stomach.

“Go help Suki then!” Zuko scoffed and the look Sokka shot him was almost comical if it wasn’t so infuriating. Apparently _Suki_ was perfectly capable of defending herself in the all-out riot. The next person Zuko hit bowled over two more prisoners. He had more vitriol waiting on his lips but he lost all of them in a surprised grunt as Sokka grabbed a hold of his arm and started sprinting them past the massive horde of fighting bodies.

"Yell at me later!” He called back and Zuko was tempted to rip his arm out of his grip out of pure spite. Sokka’s stockier frame was an adequate shield though and Zuko decided to take satisfaction in every pained grunt the other boy let out every time a flailing limb made contact. They managed to make it almost to the stairwell, Suki and Hakoda already there and Chit Sang not far behind before everything went sideways.

“What is the meaning of this?” The warden’s screech, loud and piercing, managed to break through the pandemonium and Zuko let out a vicious curse as he caught sight of the fresh wave of guards he brought with him. He had hoped that at least one of them would be on the upper level before the warden had arrived but the man had arrived in record time. And if the warden had been able to descend on them so quickly, they were fast running out of time before the _real_ threat arrived.

Sokka dropped Zuko’s arm – and Zuko blamed the fact that he had forgotten to rip it out of the other boy’s grip the moment they stopped purely on the appearance of the warden. Zuko expected him to look panicked but he was surprised to see a determined gleam in the young warrior’s eyes as he uttered the last words any of them had expected.

"We have to grab the warden!” The shock must have shown on all of their faces because he quickly continued. “If we want those guards to let us on the gondola, we need a hostage. The only person important enough is the warden.”

Zuko hadn’t quite expected to hear such a ruthless plan from Sokka but the others seemed unfazed. The chief’s eyes shot to the warden still standing in the open, a contemplative expression on his face as he judged the distance between them and Chit Sang was eyeing the staircase, obviously ready and willing to fight his way through the guards now rushing down at them.

It was Suki who made the first move. Without a hint of hesitation, she barreled towards the stairs, jumping over the guards as they tried grabbing onto her. For a moment, none of them bothered to follow and Zuko had to admit the series of flips and jumps she orchestrated before neatly landing in front of the warden rivalled Ty Lee’s and far surpassed his own skill. The others echoed his observation.

“That’s some girl,” Hakoda murmured, openly impressed.

“I know,” Sokka’s voice was nauseatingly lovestruck.

Zuko tamped down the sudden flair of irritation erupting inside him but his tone was acidic as he said, “we have to move.” He didn’t bother waiting for a response before he began sprinting up the stairs.

Suki’s actions had brought the guards to a standstill and not a single one of them dared to risk the warden’s wellbeing by reaching out for Zuko as he ran past. He didn’t bother to look but, judging from the stomping of steady footsteps behind him, none of them tried to stop Sokka, Chit Sang or the chief either. Zuko didn’t dare pause though. None of what they had done could have been considered conspicuous by any means and word would travel fast that the warden had been compromised.

Zuko remembered the cold fury that had been hidden in Mai’s tone when she had recounted the kidnapping of her toddler brother; there was no way she wouldn’t act quickly upon hearing about her uncle’s predicament. For a moment, Zuko considered, once more, telling the others about Mai, but then he was cresting the staircase and Suki and the warden were in full view and he realized there was no time left.

Not only had Suki restrained the warden with his hands tied tightly behind his back, she had also gagged him with his own headband, the very symbol of the wardenship. It would have been comical, if they had any time at all left to laugh. “Get to the gondola,” Zuko snapped, his voice biting and the command clear. None of the others were, thankfully, stupid enough to argue, and only Chit Sang stopped his stride, bending down to hoist the warden up and throw him over his shoulder.

For a split second, Zuko really thought they would make it. Hakoda had reached the gondola and torn open the door, turning and gesturing for the others to rush in. Suki had even gotten a foot in the door and Zuko really, really thought they might actually succeed.

But then a blast of fire whirled past his head and slammed solidly into the wooden frame of the gondola door, close enough to Suki that she nearly fell back in her haste to not be burned by the embers.

Time seemed to slow down.

Suki, Chit Sang, Hakoda and Sokka all turned in unison, horror and fear written on all of their face but Zuko didn’t have to.

Even before she called out the nickname she had given him when she had been small and unable to voice his whole name, her voice crooning and gleeful, he knew there was only one person who would have dared risk the life of the warden, only one person in all of the Fire Nation whose flames burned that vicious blue.

He had been right, Mai had not come alone.

Azula had arrived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it's been so long! Life (and the world) has been pretty crazy, but I'm still invested in this story. We're nearing the end of the Boiling Rock arch (one more chapter!) though and I have some fun stuff planned as we start to veer further away from canon. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brief warning: this chapter has slightly more than canon-level violence in it. Nothing too graphic, but just be aware if that's something that makes you uneasy.

The world had crashed all around Sokka. 

A deadly silence had descended on the ashes of their plan.

So close to the finish line; they had been so _close_.

He hadn’t been in the caverns where Azula had nearly killed Aang and Azula hadn’t had her fire for the majority of the time they had fought in the bunker during the invasion. But he remembered the vicious way Azula had stalked them, the destructive path she had casually rent on her mission to destroy Aang. He remembered the callous way she had fought her own brother in that abandoned town, the way she had done her best to kill her own uncle.

Azula was merciless. She was destruction personified.

And she was here, not twenty feet away from him and people he cared about, flanked by two equally dangerous girls and bearing a smirk that spelled nothing but trouble.

Sokka was decent in a fight, but he didn’t come near Azula’s level. None of them did.

They had been so _close._

If he survived this, Katara was going to murder him.

Azula knew she had taken control of the situation and her smirk was all self-satisfaction as she stepped forward. Sokka braced himself for the onslaught; he would at least go down fighting. Maybe he could even buy the others some time, Suki and Zuko and his dad and Chit Sang, to get onto the gondola. Maybe he could get them out.

But the fire never came. He should have known, should have remembered Azula liked to play with her food. Liked to taunt and gloat, certain her enemy was good and trapped.

But Sokka didn't remember that and he was not prepared for her words.

“Really Zu-Zu?” Her voice was deceptively soft, still holding on to a childish high note – Sokka forgot, often, how young the fire princess really was. She was little more than a child, really, but the posturing was all alpha as she smirked. “Treason’s one thing, but whoring yourself to some water peasant?” Sokka felt his entire body go still and he barely heard Suki’s soft gasp. So quick, so vicious was the rage that rose up in him, he would have challenged Azula right then had it not been for Zuko.

The other boy stepped forward – and Sokka wanted nothing more than to pull him back beside him, push him into the gondola where he would be safe, to get him far away where he couldn’t hear those horrible, vicious words, somewhere he’d be safe, protected. But he found himself rooted to the ground, unable to do anything as Zuko faced his sister.

This felt years in the making and something told Sokka that no matter what, he couldn’t interfere. None of them could.

"You don’t know what you’re talking about, Azula.” Zuko’s tone was firm, almost calm, as it carried across the courtyard. He had stepped forward enough now that he was directly in front of their group and he was holding his hands behind his back in a posture Sokka knew must have come from his uncle.

"Oh I don’t?” Azula’s voice was cheerful, gloating. “Do you mean you _didn’t_ flee our home as a disgusting traitor only to come back to break out some useless prisoners just because some pretty alpha batted his eyes at you? Really Zu-Zu, I thought the tutors taught you better than that.”

Sokka couldn’t help the growl that issued from his throat. The way Azula was talking, slowly, patronizingly as though Zuko was some misbehaving child who just didn’t know better. The _words_ she was using, as though Zuko had done something disgusting, dishonorable, as though he had chosen to come to the Boiling Rock, not because it was the right thing, but because he was easily influenced and unable to think for himself. It was infuriating, awful, horrible.

Azula had heard the growl; her golden eyes flicked to him briefly, lazily, and her smirk only grew. “I knew omegas were emotional, easily led astray but really, Zuko? This is ridiculous, even for you. You could have at least dishonored yourself with the waterbending one.”

At another time, Sokka might have been furious to hear Azula talk about his own sister in that tone of pure superiority. At another time, he might have been furious that she considered _him_ the lesser one, just because he couldn’t splash magic water around. But this wasn’t another time and there was something much more immediately important in what she had just said. He could tell the exact moment that Azula’s words hit the group around him.

He heard Suki’s sharp intake of breath, he could feel his father, just off to the side of him and close enough that their elbows could touch, jolt as though Azula had struck him. Sokka noticed these but he couldn’t concentrate on them; the moment Azula’s words had left her smirking lips he’d had eyes only for Zuko. The other boy had gone stiff, his back a tense line, and Sokka didn’t have to try hard to imagine the look that must have been on his face. Shocked, hurt, and undoubtedly angry.

The first part of the battle had gone to Azula, with just that one word. With just that one word, she had sent their entire group off-kilter.

Sokka had to do something quick before Azula did any more damage. She was doing what she always did – she had identified Zuko as the biggest threat and was doing everything she could to force him into attacking her first. Sokka knew, just as everyone else knew, a fight with Azula was not one Zuko could win. Even if they had both had the naturally higher physical abilities of alphas, Azula was a monster of a different breed. Even if they were more evenly matched, if Zuko struck with blind anger he would still have very little chance of defeating Azula.

Azula was pushing Zuko, purposely saying the most awful, shocking things, and it wouldn’t be long before Zuko, who’s short temper was only rivalled by Toph’s, snapped.

But Zuko, for once, _wasn’t_ losing his temper. Sokka had expected him to attack Azula, or at least begin screaming at her – Sokka could barely stop himself from screaming at her and her words were not nearly as offensive to as they should have been to her own brother – but Zuko was doing none of those things. He was still standing tall, tense and thrumming with the same kind of energy that shot through Sokka right before a battle, but he had made no move to attack his sister. He hadn’t even moved his hands from behind his back, they were still –

Wait.

Zuko _was_ moving. It was a very slight movement, little more than a twitch of his fingers so Azula and her two lackeys couldn’t see, a tap of two fingers into the open palm of his other hand, and it was the only warning he would give them. Sokka would have missed it entirely had he not been looking at the other boy so closely.

He shifted his weight in response, bringing himself close enough to his father that he lightly grazed him. Hopefully it was enough to get his father paying attention to him and not the disaster unfolding in front of them. They would only have the one chance. He shifted his weight to bring himself closer to Suki next, and lightly grazed his arm against her as well. He had to trust that Chit Sang, along with the warden he was still holding on to, would be smart enough to move with no prior warning.

He didn’t have time to do more than trust as, true to his warning, Zuko struck out with a massive wall of fire just two seconds’ after his warning and Sokka was moving.

He hated to do it, to turn his back against Zuko and not know what was happening – he could hear the rush of flames and Azula’s high pitched laugh – but there was little choice.

They needed to get on the gondola and it was with a heavy heart and several prayers to spirits Sokka didn’t fully believe in that he kept turning away from the fight and bodily shoved Chit Sang and the warden into the gondola.

“We can’t just leave him!” His father’s voice was low, angry in a way Sokka had never heard as Suki swiftly followed Chit Sang into the gondola. He had known his dad would be angry that he had led an omega into the fight but he couldn’t deal with it now – it would be nothing but suicide for either of them to try and jump in against the royal siblings.

“Zuko can handle himself! We need to secure the gondola!” Sokka hissed back, hating the words and fighting every instinct in his body that screamed that wasn’t true, that he needed to turn and protect Zuko. “He’s got this Dad, we have to trust him!” He repeated.

He _needed_ to trust that Zuko could at least hold his sister off. Even if everything in him screamed it was a dangerous mistake.

He had to trust that Zuko could keep Azula back just as Zuko had to trust him to get the gondola moving.

He would deal with his father’s shock and anger later, when they were free of Zuko’s crazy sister and her scary friends.

For now, he turned once more, away from his father and Suki and Chit Sang, and darted towards the lever that would get the gondola moving.

* * *

Zuko didn’t need to win this fight and that gave him an edge as he aggressively sent fire careening towards his little sister’s face.

He would like to win, would love nothing more than to wipe that insufferable smirk off his sister’s face, but he didn’t have to. He just had to distract her long enough for everyone to make their way onto the gondola and get it started. Azula was incredibly intelligent, cunning and powerful; the alpha child their father had always wanted. But she also had a weakness when it came to Zuko, the exact same weakness everyone else in Zuko’s life had fallen to.

She thought him weak, less powerful. She thought she could goad him into a fight and dispatch him quickly before securing everyone else without even dropping her smirk.

But Zuko’s sudden strike had taken her by surprise and her smirk faltered as she was forced into the defensive, turning with a leg out to dissipate Zuko’s flames before they reached her. Zuko didn’t give her the moment she would need to reorient herself – before she had fully turned back, he was attacking again, sending several bursts of rapid fire after his first wave. She shot them down with a wave of her own flame, electric blue and crackling hot, and Zuko felt it sear against his skin even as he stepped forward and broke it with a blast of his own.

Others were moving around them now, as though Zuko’s attack had shattered the temporary calm that kidnapping the warden had forced upon the prison. Zuko could hear shouting and the shuffle of hurried steps all around him as everyone burst into action but he only had eyes on his sister. To look away from Azula now was death. He beat back the absurd instinct to turn around – he had to trust the others were smart enough to have gotten his warning and had started moving just as quickly as everyone else. He was sure Mai and Ty Lee hadn’t hesitated to press against his defenses and he could only hope that the others could handle them once they broke through.

Zuko had quickly lost the upper hand his sudden attack had awarded him but the fight wasn’t nearly as one-sided as they had been before and Azula wasn’t smiling anymore as she beat back another one of his blasts. It was imperative that Zuko didn’t let her gain any ground, at least until the gondola was moving, and he sent wave of flame after wave of flame to keep her back, all the while listening for the tell-tale sound of the gondola groaning into action.

The sound didn’t come and Azula began gaining, slightly, coming closer and closer into Zuko’s line and forcing him on the defensive.

The sound didn’t come but the clattering of weapons rang out from near the lever and Zuko had to force himself not to turn, not to see what was going on, not to see which of their group had taken the risk of running for the lever.

But then a pained cry rang out, a young, male, and distinctly familiar sound, and Zuko paused, just for a split second, as fear spiked his heart.

_Sokka._

And then Zuko was turning, a shout on his lips, utterly heedless to the threat that was his little sister. What he saw made his blood run cold.

Sokka stood near the lever, two unconscious guards at his feet, with a tanned hand tightly clasped against his arm. Blood seeped from beneath his fingers, a horrible ghastly crimson and his face was twisted in a grimace of pain and fear. But that wasn’t the worst sight.

Mai stood just a few feet away, a look of cold fury on her face and a sharp dagger between her fingers.

* * *

Sokka knew that in a battle, every second and every move counted. One wrong turn, one second was all it took to get seriously hurt. Even the twitch of a finger was a risk, in the midst of a fight. He knew that but that didn’t stop him from barreling towards the lever that controlled the massive coils of cable keeping the gondola in place.

He had to get it moving and quickly, before Azula gained the upper hand. Before Mai or Ty Lee or any of the guards broke through Zuko’s fiery defense and attacked the gondola.

It was ridiculously easy to dispatch the guards stationed at the lever with a few well-placed swings of the heavy metal helmet he still held in his hand. They had been distracted by the sudden and vicious fight that had broken out against the two royal siblings and they didn’t even put up a nominal fight as Sokka knocked them out and pushed them out of the way of the lever. The stupid thing was heavy and Sokka, not for the first time, cursed the fact that Toph wasn’t around. The lever was metal and she would have been able to move it with the twitch of one of her tiny fingers. Whereas Sokka was stuck pulling it with all his strength, grunting slightly, as it began slowly, far far too slowly, moving.

He got it about halfway over when a sharp pain sliced through his upper arm and a cry of pain left his lips before he could stop it. He instinctively whirled around, searching for the threat as he slapped a hand to the cut. He found her immediately, knowing exactly who to look for. It hadn’t been the first time he’d been sliced by one of her daggers but seeing Mai just feet from him, her expression nothing less than lethal as she prepared to strike again, sent his heart into a staccato rhythm.

So drawn to the deadly girl in front of him, Sokka didn’t even notice as the flames around them died out as both prince and princess turned to watch the unexpected showdown, one with horror written on his face and the other with gleeful amusement.

Mai seemed to have been the only one on Azula’s side who had made her way around the flames and Sokka braced himself for the onslaught of blades, grateful that Ty Lee at least hadn’t managed to get past. Mai was the more lethal one of the pair but Ty Lee was far more dangerous with her knowledge of the human body. Sokka could still use a bleeding arm but a dead one wouldn’t be able to pull the lever down the rest of the way.

He had dodged her blades before, he could do it again. He just needed to figure a way to incapacitate her before she used him as her target board. But Mai was already moving her hand back again, getting ready to throw her next blade before Sokka had time to come up with a plan and if she kept that up, kept Sokka on the defensive, he would never be able to come up with any way to stop her, he would be entirely at her nonexistent mercy –

But then Mai was shouting at him, her voice louder than he had ever heard before, and he was following her order without a thought, dropping to the floor just as her dagger flew over his head –

\- And slammed right into the shoulder of the guard who had come up behind Sokka.

Sokka may not have been aware of their audience before but, as he watched the guard fall with a grunt of astonished pain, a scream of pure, shocked anger tore through the air and everyone turned as one to the source of it.

Sokka had never seen Azula so angry, her golden eyes flashing like daggers. But even worse was her scent. Azula had never bothered to hide hers, not like Zuko had, and the smell of crackling electric fire on grass had haunted many of his nightmares. But it wasn’t until this moment that he realized, while Azula had never bothered hiding her scent, Sokka had never been able to scent her emotions. Perhaps she knew how to tuck away that, perhaps she had always felt so comfortably superior that she had never felt fear or anger around them. It didn’t matter, either way. Not when the scents of anger and betrayal were coming off of her in uncontrollable waves, sending many of the experienced guards running for cover.

Sokka wanted to run too, every instinct in him screaming to flee before that wrath descended upon him, but he forced himself to stay. If he turned his back now, he knew he was a dead man. In all likelihood, he was a dead man either way but he would at least face his oncoming death headfirst.

But Azula wasn’t looking at him, so close to the lever, so close to freedom, and she wasn’t looking at the gondola, where Chit Sang, Hakoda, Suki and the warden were all watching, none of them daring to move while Azula’s wrath came down. She wasn’t even staring at Zuko, who had just moments ago been the only one she had eyes for.

Azula’s golden gaze, and the fire brimming behind it, was focused slowly on the girl in front of Sokka. He almost expected her to wilt - the spirits knew if any of _his_ friends had looked at him with such blind wrath he would have melted to his knees - but Mai didn’t so much as flinch and her pale hand was steady as she took out another dagger and held it firmly in her palm. A clear threat.

The silence around them had turned deafening, as every eye of those that remained were glued on the two girls. Sokka could see more clearly now that the smoke and fire from the royal siblings’ fight had dispersed. Ty Lee, who had been obviously making her way around the battle to head off the gondola, had frozen halfway, a look of pure horror and unadulterated fear on her face. Zuko had stopped midstance and the shock on his face would have been comical if Sokka hadn’t been able to see the fear so clearly written in his eyes.

Mai had been his almost sort of betrothed. Sokka had half forgotten, in light of everything that had happened since they had crash landed on the Boiling Rock, their conversation about past girlfriends on the balloon. Zuko had said there had been talks, he had spoken like their marriage was little more than a business agreement. Sokka hadn’t realized, hadn’t thought or considered, that Zuko had any particularly strong feelings for the girl. He had been wrong; he could see how afraid Zuko was for Mai, in that moment.

And why else would Mai have betrayed Azula, if not for the boy who would have been her mate?

Sokka didn’t understand the feeling that welled up in him, an ugly and almost irrational anger that was at complete odds with the relief that should have been coursing through him. He had really thought Mai had been about to run _him_ through with her daggers and he should have been over the moon about having an extra fighter on their side. Especially one that had so completely taken Azula’s attention. He forced himself to push away the useless, ridiculous anger – he would deal with it never – and decided to focus on his task at hand.

It was their chance to escape. There would be no better time than while everyone’s attention was on the two girls in front of them. It was clear they were going to fight; Azula was definitely not the type to let a betrayal go and Mai hadn’t exactly shown up to the battle armed to the teeth with peace on her mind. He just had to wait for either of the girls to lunge first and then go for the lever. It wouldn’t take much to pull it the rest of the way and then make a run for the gondola.

He tried to catch Zuko’s eye across the courtyard but, like his little sister, he only had eyes for the girl in front of Sokka.

Sokka forcibly squashed the new bout of unexplainable anger that aroused in him. Of course Zuko was worried about her, he _obviously_ cared about her way more than he had let on and that was perfectly reasonable. It was completely understandable that he would have kept his feelings for Mai quiet when he grew up in a family that thought so little of omegas. It made total sense that Zuko would have listened to Sokka bear his heart about Yue and give little to him in return.

Sokkka wasn’t upset about that at all.

And he definitely wasn’t letting that nonexistent upset-ness crowd his thoughts when he was literally on the verge of either escaping or total disaster.

That would be ridiculous.

He was simply waiting for one of the girls to finally make their move. It would be reckless to try and get the gondola moving without a distraction. It would be all too easy for Azula to turn her wrath onto him if he made any sudden movement too soon.

Time dragged on as though in slow motion; seconds passed like hours as neither girl dared move.

Finally, when the tension was at its most taut, when Sokka was just about to break and turn back to the lever, distraction or not, Azula broke the silence.

“Why?” The word sounded almost choked, as though there was some sadness in her anger. Sokka didn’t think Azula was capable of true sadness – she certainly seemed far too monstrous for simple emotions like the rest of them had – but there was definitely a break in her voice that could hardly be described as anything other than hurt.

Sokka had expected her to strike without question and he could tell he wasn’t the only one caught off guard. Ty Lee seemed to relax, just a fraction as though it was possible Azula might show mercy – surely something she knew even less about than sadness – at the same time that Zuko tensed even further, as though he had sensed something in the word that no one else had. Sokka decided to go trust Zuko’s instincts and shifted his body, preparing himself to move the moment the temporary calm broke.

He didn’t know, exactly, what Azula would do when she finally snapped but from the look of pure inflamed wrath on her face, he at least knew it wasn’t going to be pretty.

* * *

Zuko was at a loss. He had thought, watching Mai barrel down towards Sokka, that he was about to witness the gruesome murder of the Water Tribe boy. There had been no time to get to him, no time to prevent the inevitable, no time to do anything as Mai drew back her hand in a sure strike.

But then Mai was shouting – Zuko didn’t even know what, Mai hardly ever raised her voice and she _definitely_ wasn’t the type to talk to her opponents in the midst of a battle – and Sokka was dropping and the blade was flying over his head, barely missing him and it wasn’t like Mai to miss and Zuko didn’t understand –

Until the blade slammed into the shoulder of a guard he hadn’t seen coming up behind Sokka and Zuko realized with sudden, startling clarity that Mai hadn’t missed, Sokka had never been her target. She had been _protecting_ Sokka.

The entire world came to a screeching halt as the guard fell, shock and pain on his face as his hand went up to feel the hard metal suddenly embedded into the meat of his shoulder. It wasn’t a fatal hit, as long as the guard wasn’t stupid enough to pull the blade out and bleed freely, but it was a grievous one.

]To maim a guard in a Fire Nation prison was a serious offense. For a Fire Nation citizen to severely maim one while they were fulfilling their oath to the Fire Nation and working to carry out the will of the Fire Lord, was almost certainly a death sentence. Mai, whose family had birthed the prison system and safeguards that protected the guards, knew that better than anyone.

All that might have been forgiven – her family being as powerful as they were, might have been able to advocate for some leniency. She was the eldest child of her parents and the only alpha of the entire family’s latest generation, it wouldn’t have been too hard to quietly pass along some money and a few well-placed promotions to keep the whole situation quiet. But she had betrayed _Azula_ and there was no forgiveness for betraying the royal family; none that Zuko had ever seen, at least. People had been banished or executed for far less than outright, public betrayal.

Why _had_ she done it? Why forfeit her life? Zuko searched her face as she turned to towards them. He had never seen such a defiant look on her face before and it shocked him to see the anger in her eyes was directed, not at him who she had barely glanced at, but at Azula. It was an anger mirrored in his sister’s own face and the tiny thought that he had that Mai might have been acting under Azula’s orders, that maybe Azula had orchestrated this whole show, was lost. Not even Azula could fake that much anger.

“Why?” Azula’s voice sounded gutted as she tore through the sudden silence that had descended the courtyard. Zuko was reminded, quite unwillingly, of their bonfire at Ember Island, at the way Azula’s voice had gone reflective, bordering on sad, as she mentioned their mother. Part of that same almost sadness was in her voice now, part of that deep hurt she kept hidden so well. Zuko felt a strange and undoubtedly suicidal urge to comfort her, to try and shield her from that hurt the same way he had done when she had been small enough for him to carry. But the little girl who appreciated that sort of care, the one who clung to him and cried when she was left alone and left chunks of sticky rice in his hair was long gone. Even if she was hurting, it would be his death to offer her comfort now.

For one, they were enemies, they had just been doing their best to seriously maim each other mere minutes ago and would be again at any moment when Azula decided to attack again. For another, Zuko had the very odd, very unwelcome feeling that Mai had, for some unknown reason, betrayed Azula for _him_. And even if his little sister could forego the fact that they were enemies, she would never forgive him for one of her best friends choosing him over her.

Mai didn’t answer Azula’s question and Zuko could feel the tension grow the longer the silence held. He didn’t know how much longer they could wait; he and Sokka needed to get onto the gondola with the others but he couldn’t risk breaking the silence with a run for the gondola. The moment he moved, Azula’s attention would be back on him and her anger would only make her fire even fiercer. And Sokka still needed to get the gondola moving, otherwise they would all just be sitting turtleducks for Azula’s fire.

The most logical choice would be to attack Azula now, while she was distracted by Mai, and give Sokka cover to finish pulling the lever. It wasn’t like Zuko had never done anything underhanded before; nor was it something Azula herself wouldn’t do. But there was something horrible in the idea, something detestable in the very prospect of attacking Azula with her back turned and all her attention on someone else. Azula herself would sneer at the weakness; she wouldn’t have hesitated to attack him if their positions were reversed. It might be their best shot at getting out.

Knowing all of that didn’t make Zuko move, though. No matter how logical, he couldn’t bring himself to attack her exposed back.

A different option would come, a less despicable chance that he could exploit. He didn’t need to stoop to his sister’s level to win this fight.

Zuko couldn’t see the expression on his sister’s face fully but he could read the tension in her body. Any minute now, Azula would attack. She wouldn’t wait much longer for Mai’s answer; he hardly believed she even cared to hear it. Whatever Mai could say wouldn’t change the betrayal. Mai might even attack first.

The silence stretched taut – well past what he expected its breaking point to be – before Mai finally spoke. “You underestimated my fear.” It was a simple statement, said with a cold indifference that belied the history between the two girls. It was a simple statement, but it rendered an extreme reaction.

“ _You_ underestimated!” Azula’s voice was a scream, completely devoid of the finely honed control she had sacrificed her childhood to learn. “You should have feared me more!” She was unhinged, uncontrolled, dangerous.

Zuko was moving before Azula had even begun the kata, knowing instinctively what his little sister was about to do.

He wasn’t the only one.

Ty Lee had broken from her position and for a brief wild moment as Zuko sprinted to stand in front of Mai, sprinted to do something reckless and stupid that stood a good chance of getting him killed, Zuko thought she was racing to stop him, racing to aid one of her oldest friends in the murder of another.

When her fingers, skilled and practiced in a secret art few in the Fire Nation had learned but all had feared, jabbed into Azula and dulled the lightning crackling at her fingertips it was like the entire world had uprooted itself. Even Ty Lee looked shocked at her actions, as though her body had acted entirely of its own accord. Azula crumbled into a motionless heap in front of her.

Pandemonium broke as the entire prison watched the Crown Princess fall.

“ _Zuko!”_ Mai’s voice was loud and sharp over the cries of the guards rallying to defend their princess and Zuko turned quickly. However she felt about Zuko running towards her in that moment before Ty Lee attacked, whether she had realized Azula was summoning lightning to kill her where she stood, whether she knew Zuko had been running to intercept it, he had no idea. Her face was set into a determined scowl but it betrayed little other emotion as she jerked her head to the gondola behind them. “You owe me. You need to take her!” There was no reason to name who she was speaking about; there was only one girl on the entire platform Mai cared about in that moment and it certainly wasn’t herself.

A moment of understanding passed between them in that instant. Mai had saved Sokka for Zuko, Zuko would save Ty Lee for her. A life for a life. Sokka didn’t mean the same thing for him as they both knew Ty Lee meant for Mai but that didn’t matter. It didn’t even matter that she had saved him, really; Zuko would have done his best to save both of them from Azula’s wrath if he could.

There wasn’t enough time for that though and Zuko wasn’t going to disrespect Mai’s request. He nodded, just a fraction of a tilt, and he was smart enough to pretend not to notice the grateful relief that flashed across Mai’s face as he turned. Ty Lee was still standing in the center next to Azula’s crumbled form – had such a little amount of time passed? – but the guards hadn’t reached her yet.

Suki and Hakoda had both taken advantage of the pandemonium to rejoin the fray and their vicious fury kept the guards from reaching the petite girl. They were admirable warriors but they were weaponless nonbenders and it wouldn’t take long for the Boiling Rock guards to gain the upper hand.

Zuko ran towards them, fire dancing at his fingertips, and managed to intercept a wave of fire right before it landed on Suki’s unguarded forearm. “Get her!” Zuko hissed to her, jerking his head back in the direction of Ty Lee. Suki, spirits bless her, didn’t question Zuko. Perhaps, as the one who had endured the longest stay at a Fire Nation prison out of all of them except Chit Sang, she understood more than any of them the fate that awaited Ty Lee if they left her. She fell back and Zuko pressed forward, giving her coverage to dart away from the battle by sending a wave of flames that engulfed the guards’.

It was laughably easy, after his brief battle with Azula, to keep the guards back. Zuko hadn’t had much time to reflect on how his inner fire had changed after visiting the dragons with Aang but he could feel it now. Every breath was controlled, every flame a direct burst of fiery heat. The guards hadn’t expected the strength; Zuko had long been known as the weaker member of the royal family. His father had never done anything to hide his or Azula’s prodigal skills and Uncle was a living legend. Zuko wasn’t weak by any means – no full-fledged member of the royal family was anything less than a master of the flame by sixteen – but he shouldn’t have been able to hold back ten guards by the strength of his fire alone.

But he did it with ease and he could see the fear in the guards’ eyes as they found themselves falling back more and more, nearly running over each other in their haste to escape the touch of his burning fury.

But Zuko did not want to seriously hurt them; they were still _his_ people, even if they were doing their best to subdue him. And that slight hesitancy, that little voice in the back of his head that said permanently hurting any of the guards might not be something Zuko could recover from, nearly cost him.

Fresh guards came to aid their brethren and one – a particularly fearless, large woman – broke through Zuko’s flames, heedless to the sizzle of her own skin as they bit at her exposed arms. She wielded a heavy baton and Zuko was already dropping into a low stance to deflect the blow – he would use the woman’s larger frame against her, unbalance her footing and send her sprawling –

Before she had even reached him, however, a massive figure was colliding with her. Zuko had forgotten that the chief was still near him – he had expected the man to fall back with Suki or to go to his son and help get the gondola moving. He hadn’t expected the man to think Zuko needed or was even worthy of his help but there he was, grappling with a guard who would have done her best to bash Zuko’s head in.

Zuko hoped beyond hope that the man had merely seen an opportunity to engage in the battle and took it but he had a strangely discomforting feeling that there was something more to the chief’s sudden burst of protectiveness.

Azula hadn’t exactly been quiet when she had casually mentioned Zuko’s orientation and Zuko could only think of one reason the chief of the Southern Water Tribe would choose to protect a stranger over his own son. Sokka had to have gotten his views from someone and Zuko’s stomach dipped unpleasantly as he met eyes with the older man as he rose from his brief but brutal fight, baton in hand. There was something in the stormy eyes he didn’t like, something far too close to the way Sokka had looked at him after the Duke had crawled into his lap all those days ago.

The man might have said something even then, in the midst of the brutal battle, had a triumphant yell not torn through the air.

Zuko and Hakoda both turned as one. It had been Sokka’s voice that had ripped through the air and it was clear to see why.

With Mai’s swift hands keeping the guards at bay, he had finally managed to finish pulling the lever. Zuko could already see that the gondola had jerked itself into a slow crawl along the thick cable. Suki was already on it, one hand tightly clenched onto the wrist of Ty Lee to prevent the other girl from jumping back off as she loudly beseeched Mai to hurry up after them. Sokka himself had wasted no time to sprint towards it, his retreat protected by Mai’s deadly aim.

It would only take moments for the gondola to pick up enough speed that it would be impossible to catch up to it. Zuko didn’t have nearly enough time.

But he had to do one more trick to ensure the guards didn’t try to follow them. “Go!” He yelled to Hakoda. He ignored the way his heart skipped a beat at the incredulous look the other man gave him and turned quickly to face the guards.

He didn’t give himself a chance to second guess it. He had only seen his Uncle do it once and if he made even the slightest error, if he showed even the slightest bit of hesitance, he would burn himself from the inside out. He took a deep breath and waited a beat, holding it in his lungs until it was hot enough that it felt scalding. Once the guards were close enough they could almost touch him, Zuko unleashed it.

Flames, red-hot and vicious, roared from his mouth and sent the guards reeling back before it could scald their faces. Shouts of horror and alarm rang out all around him and he could hear even Hakoda bite off a shocked swear behind him.

Only one man had ever dared breathe fire in the midst of a battle, only one man had the control and power to invoke the dragon’s breath.

It was like the Dragon of the West had arrived onto the courtyard and the terror and awe that Zuko, the weakest of the Fire Nation siblings, would dare invoke that raw power sent the guards careening back.

Zuko didn’t wait any longer for their reaction – he could already feel the tax on his body that move had caused, could feel lancing pain in every breath he took and knew he wouldn’t last much longer on his feet. He turned and used the last of his strength to sprint towards the still moving gondola. Hakoda, evidently just as stubborn as his son, kept pace beside him.

The gondola was far away, nearly too far, and he could see from the fear in everyone’s faces that none of them thought him or Hakoda would make it. But Sokka and Chit Sang, both standing at the edge of the still open door, reached their arms out anyway and neither Zuko nor Hakoda hesitated.

They leapt together into the open air.

Zuko didn’t dare breath until his hand caught Sokka’s.

He didn’t open his eyes until his feet landed safely on the floor of the gondola.

The relief he felt as he took in everyone in the gondola – Hakoda had been hoisted in by Chit Sang and was standing close enough to Zuko to brush their shoulder’s together – was unfortunately short lived.

Ty Lee was forcing her way past Sokka and Chit Sang, her wide brown eyes focused on something outside the small window Zuko had just been pulled up through.

Zuko didn’t even think. He grabbed her around her waist before she could hurl herself out the window and back onto the courtyard.

“Let me go, Zuko!” He had never heard Ty Lee ever sound so angry. “She’s still there, we have to go back! We have to get her!” Ty Lee was panicked, frantic, and it took all of Zuko’s remaining strength to hold her back.

“Ty Lee, stop!” He yelled back, his voice easily eclipsing hers. He noticed, dimly, that no one around them were talking or even moving. Even the warden, tied up and thrown carelessly in the corner of the gondola, had stopped struggling against his bonds. Ty Lee squirmed, her elbow punching mercilessly into his gut in a valiant attempt to get him to drop her but Zuko held firm. “It’s too late!” He yelled. Ty Lee sobbed and pulled desperately against him. “It’s too late, Ty Lee!” Zuko repeated, his voice quieter.

Ty Lee gave another sob before collapsing against him. For a moment, Zuko couldn’t believe she had stopped struggling against him, thought she was hoping he would be lured into a false sense of security and slacken his hold.

Then he glanced out the window and saw what had made Ty Lee go limp.

Mai was so small, this far away. A tiny and barely discernible figure standing proud and alone in the courtyard.

It had not taken long for the guards to gather their wits and the red circle surrounding Mai made her seem even tinier.

She didn’t bow, didn’t lower herself, even as she opened her hands and let her daggers fall.

Even over the swiftly widening distance and Ty Lee’s quiet sobs, Zuko could almost swear he could hear the clatter they made as they bounced harmlessly against the courtyard.

“They’ll kill her.” Ty Lee managed through her sobs, her voice tear-stricken and filled with grief.

Not one of them had an answer to that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took a bit longer than expected but the Boiling Rock is finally complete! I hope you all enjoyed it - I don't have a lot of experience writing fight scenes so I was a little nervous about this but I think it turned out pretty well. And I hope you guys liked the little twists to canon - originally, I toyed with rescuing both Mai and Ty Lee but when I started writing it, it felt more right for it to just be Ty Lee. Without getting too spoilery, Zuko's going to need an omega friend to help him figure out why people are so freaking weird and Ty Lee was a lot less sheltered growing up than the Crown Prince. Plus, Mai not being around means she can't clear up any misconceptions certain Water Tribe idiots may or may not have come up with. Thank you all for reading and I hope to have the next story up soon!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoyed the first part of Boiling Rock! Originally it was going to be one chapter, like the rest of this series, but this section got really long and I decided to split it into two. It follows pretty closely to canon, which made it a little hard to write, but I think it turned out well! The next section will definitely diverge a little more, although I am toying with how much, and Hakoda and Suki will finally make their appearances - although whether they will make Zuko's world a little bit easier or harder has yet to be seen! I hope to have it up soon!


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